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Copyright N°. 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY 
CHURCH PROBLEM 



By 

GARLAND A. BRICKER, B.Ped., M.A., 

Assistant Professor of Agricultural Education, Ohio State 

University, and Managing Editor of "The Rural 

Educator," Columbus, Ohio. 

In Co-operation with 

Fourteen Collaborators 



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Cmcmtrait r 
JENNINGS AND GRAHAM 

EATON AND MAINS 



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COPYRIGHT, 1913, BY 
JENNINGS AND GRAHAM 



©CI.A357050 



TO THOSE WHO LOVE THE LORD 

BY SERVICE 

IN RURAL COMMUNITIES 

THIS BOOK IS CONSIDERATELY 

DEDICATED. 



The Church in the Wildwood. 



W. S. P. 







wt- 



Dr. Wm. S. Pitts. 



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1. There's a church in the val-ley by the wild - wood, No love - li - er 

2. How sweet on a clear, Sab-bath morn - ing To list to the 

3. There, close by the church in the val - ley, Lies one that I 

4. There, close by the side of that loved one, 'Neath the tree where th8 



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place in the dale; No spot is so dear to my child-hood As the 
clear ring -ing bell; Its tones so sweet -ly are call - ing, Oh, 
loved so well; She sleeps, sweetly sleeps 'neath the wil - low; Dis- 

wild flow-ers bloom, When the fare-well hymn shall be chant -ed, I shall 

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lit-tle brown church in the vale, 

come to the church in the vale, 

turb not her rest in the vale, 

rest by her side in the tomb. 

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Come to the 

Oh, come, come, come, come, come, come, 



lit-tle brown church in 



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church by the wild - wood, Oh, come to the church in the dale; 
come, come, come, come, come, come, come, come, come, come, come, come, come; 



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Analytical Table of Contents 

PAGE 

Preface 13 

CHAPTER I 

Introduction: The Problem in Perspective 19 

Interdependence of Rural Industrial Evolution and 

Social Development 19 

The Institutions Concerned in Rural Industrial Evo- 
lution. . . 20 

The Institutions Concerned in Rural Social Devel- 
opment 20 

The Insufficiency of the Economic Aim as a Life Motive 

Force 22 

The Church as a Social -Institution 23 

The Problems of Leadership and Discipleship 25 

The Rural Problem Is Integral 26 

CHAPTER II 

The Economic Relations of the Farmer and His Church 27 

1. The Church as an Index to Rural Economic Welfare 

and Social Life 28 

The Four Types of the Historic Country Church. 28 

The Coming Type of Country Church 30 

2. Church Improvement Dependent upon Labor In- 

come 32 

The Cause of the Retarded Country Church . . 33 

An Agricultural Ministry? 37 

3. The Lord's Share of the Farmer's Profits 39 

The Budget System of Giving 41 

4. The Traditional Christian Character and the Farmer. 41 

The Traditional Virtues 42 

The Marginal Rural People Are Representative. 46 

CHAPTER III 

The Limitations, the Opportunities, and the Possibil- 
ities of the Country Church 48 

1. The Limitations of the Country Church 48 

Antiquated Buildings and Equipment 51 

7 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Inadequate Financial Support 52 

Inefficient Leadership 53 

Weakness of the College and the Seminary .... 53 
The Need of Readjusting Ecclesiastical Admin- 
istration 55 

Lack of Vision 56 

Summary of Limitations 57 

2. The Opportunity of the Country Church 58 

Co-operation of Rural School and Country 

Church 58 

Championing Rural Life 60 

Church Mediatorship in Securing Co-operation. 60 

Readjustment 64 

Summary of Opportunities 65 

3. The Possibilities of the Country Church 65 

The Rise of New Conditions in Country Life. . . 66 

The Dream and Then the Dawn 67 

The Message 68 

The Message in Action 70 

CHAPTER IV 

The Centralization of Country Churches 73 

1. Conditions 73 

2. The Effects _ 75 

One Example of an Over-Churched Field 76 

The Benefit of Church Consolidation 78 

3. Difficulties in the Way of Church Centralization. . . 79 

4. What Shall We Do about It? 81 

1. Union under a Denomination 84 

2. Union under No Denomination 85 

3. Federation of Denominations 86 

4. Interdenominational Church Trades 87 

The New Organizations Evil 87 

Caution 88 

References 89 

CHAPTER V 

Efficiency and Leadership 91 

1. The Nature of Leadership 91 

2. Rural Leadership 93 

3. A Country Church Commission and Its Work 95 

4. Pastoral Leadership 97 

5. The Greatest Need — Co-operation 101 

6. Three Great Rural Leaders 102 

7. The Call of the Rural Church 106 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER VI PAGE 

The Education of Ministers for Service in Rural 

Churches .' 108 

Introduction 108 

The Scholastic Training of the Rural Minister in 

Outline 109 

1. A Standard Philosophy of Rural Improvement Ill 

Breadth of Vision and Training Needed 114 

2. Catholicity of Acquaintance with the Rural Move- 

ment 117 

3. Rural-Mindedness 119 

Shall Rural Ministers Receive Agricultural Col- 
lege Training? 121 

4. An Invincible Purpose and Enthusiasm for Rural 

Spiritualization 123 

Suggestions on the Solutions of the Educational 

Problem 125 

CHAPTER VII 

The Principles of Apperception and Association in 

Rural Religious Teaching 128 

1. The Principle of Apperception 128 

The Application of the Principle 129 

Factors Influencing Teaching by Apperception. 131 

2. The Principle of Association 133 

The Principle of Association in Operation 135 

A Suggestive Sermon Outline 138 

CHAPTER VIII 

The Agricultural College and the Country Church. . 140 

1. Primitive Condition 140 

2. Agencies of Transformation 142 

Drift Westward 144 

Agricultural Decline 145 

Agricultural Colleges 146 

New Conception of the Agricultural College. . . 149 

3. The Educated Ministry 150 

4. Immediate Service of the College to the Church. . . . 155 

CHAPTER IX 

Ax Adequate Salary for the Rural Pastor 159 

The Problem Stated 159 

A Comparison of Salaries and Service 160 

The Work of a Country Church Commission 161 

9 



sCONTENTS 

PAGE 

The Right to Expect a Living Wags 163 

What Constitutes a Living Wage? 164 

The Rights of Pastor and of People 167 

The Principle of Subsidizing Weak Rural Churches. ... 168 

Money and Ministry . 169 

Pay for Trained Leadership 170 

CHAPTER X 

The Spiritual Evangelization of the Rural Com- 
munity Through Its Church 176 

1. The Supreme Aim 176 

2. The Sort of Leaders Needed 177 

3. Hindrances to Spiritual Evangelization 179 

(a) The Progressive Community 180 

(b) The Stagnant Church 182 

4. Helps to Constructive Evangelization 182 

(a) The Community Survey 183 

(b) Community Brotherhood 184 

(c) The Church's Responsibility for Community 

Intelligence 189 

5. The Test 190 

CHAPTER XI 

The Rural Church as a Factor in the Social Life of 

the Country Community 192 

The Life with Nature Is the Normal Life 192 

Are We Becoming a Nation of Cities? 193 

Serving Rural America Is a Great Service 194 

The Rural Community Needs the Christian Church ... 194 

Phases of Social Activity for the Rural Church . 199 

A Typical Example of the Status of the Church in Rural 

Communities 202 

The Church Should Encourage and Minister to All 

Good Community Activities 204 

A Few Suggestions from Practical Experience 205 

A Circulating Library 207 

The Mission of the Rural Church 208 

CHAPTER XII 

Boys' and Men's Clubs in the Country Church 209 

1. The Problem 209 

The Loneliness of the Open Country 212 

2. The Boys' Club t 213 

The Question of Leadership. . . 214 

Opportunities Open to Boy-Club Activities. ... 215 
The Highest Aim of Boys' Club Work 218 

10 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

3. The Men's Club. 219 

The Various Fields of Service for Men's Clubs. 220 

The Final Result 221 

The Ultimate Aim 222 

CHAPTER XIII 

Recreation and the Rural Church 223 

The Recreational Responsibility of the Rural Church. 223 

An Example 225 

The Forms of Recreation and Amusement 226 

The Monotony of Winter on the Farm 229 

CHAPTER XIV 

The Work of Women's Organizations in the Rural 

Church 232 

The Ladies' Aid Society a Type 232 

The Women's Organization a Community Enterprise . . 235 

The Enlargement of the Field of Service 237 

The Rural Problem a Unit 239 

A Typical Ladies' Aid Society 239 

CHAPTER XV 

Rural Sunday School Efficiency 244 

• 1. Obstacles to the Progress of the Rural Sunday School. 245 

2. Educational Efficiency 247 

Lesson Systems 249 

Organization 250 

Architecture and Equipment 251 

3. Social Efficiency 255 

Larger Friendliness 257 

Recreative Activities 259 

Community Improvements 260 

Reform Movements 260 

Social Problems 261 

CHAPTER XVI 

The Work of the Country Young Men's Christian As- 
sociation in Building Rural Manhood 263 

1. The Field of the Country Young Men's Christian 

Association 264 

2. The Organization and Methods of Work 265 

3. Principles in Rural Work 268 

11 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

4. The Group Method of Organization and Activities. 270 

Social Activities 271 

Recreational and Athletic Activities 272 

Educational Activities 273 

Religious Work 276 

CHAPTER XVII 

The Young Women's Christian Association as a Builder 

of Rural Womanhood 279 

1. The Organization of the Country Young Women's 

Christian Association 279 

2. Methods of Carrying on the Work 280 



APPENDIX 

A. A Select Bibliography on the Country Church . . 287 

B. Historical and Statistical Report of the Law- 

rence Circuit for 1913 289 



12 



PREFACE 

That a rural Church problem exists is usually 
granted without debate, and it is upon this assump- 
tion that the collaborators of this volume have pro- 
ceeded in their work. The question naturally arises, 
How shall this problem be solved? and that has been 
the guiding consideration in the preparation of this 
book. 

The solution of so great a problem is not a one- 
man's job. There is at present great need of a first- 
class symposium on the subject of solving the country 
Church problem. Not a symposium of theories 
merely, but a forum for the best thought of practical 
rural workers that shall incorporate experience, wis- 
dom, knowledge, and timely suggestions born of 
mature reflection. That some of the fundamental 
essentials necessary to the solution of the country 
Church problem have already been worked out, and 
therefore now exist, is the contention of the writer. 
The writing and collecting of the contributions com- 
posing this book represent a plan to bring out from 
under the bushel a few lights to guide the pioneer 
rural leader and Church worker on his pathway to a 
realization of the really efficient country Church. 

The men and women who have collaborated in 
this work were chosen because of their special fitness 

13 



PREFACE 

to write on the special subjects assigned to them. 
This fitness has, in every case, been born of experi- 
ence. There has been no effort to work out some 
abstract theory, nor to establish one. An attempt 
has been made to arrange the contributions in that 
order which is the most suggestive for considering the 
problem under discussion. 

The question may be raised why a professor of 
agricultural education should so far interest himself 
in the rural Church problem as to take the initiative 
in the compilation of a symposium, which may be a 
step in its possible solution. To such an inquiry the 
editor of this volume gives the following cogent 
answer : 

First. No leader in a profession can be truly in- 
terested in its members without also being interested 
in their environments. The teachers of agriculture, 
who must in no small degree spend their lives in 
country communities, will naturally become rural 
social leaders; and to make this leadership most 
effective for good, it should be exercised through, or 
in connection with, the moral atmosphere of a live 
and prosperous Church. 

Second. No man lives to himself alone; neither 
should the narrow walls of one's own immediate pur- 
suits limit the soul's vision into the beauties of an- 
other's vineyard. Each angle at which a social prob- 
lem is viewed gives a new insight and the possibility 
of greater achievement in service. 

Third. In investigating rural conditions in Ohio 
and elsewhere in connection with his studies and 

14 



PREFACE 

travels during the past three years, the writer has 
found several rural ministers who were attaining 
varying degrees of success along different lines of 
rural Church work. This observation prompted him 
to the endeavor of making a collection o*f these various 
experiences and achievements, that others who are 
interested in the country Church might be helped 
by them. 

Fourth. The interrelation of the three great fun- 
damental institutions of the rural community — the 
home, the school, and the Church — is such that the 
assistance rendered to one of them will have a desir- 
able reflex influence upon the others. One of the 
surest ways to secure a redirection of the rural school 
is to have a redirected country Church. 

Columbus, Ohio, G. A. B. 

September 1, 1913. 



15 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH 
PROBLEM 



CHAPTER I 



Introduction: The Problem in 
Perspective 

By Garland A. Bricker, B. Ped., M. A., 

Assistant Professor of Agricultural Education, Ohio State Uni- 
versity, and Managing Editor of The Rural Educator, 
Columbus, Ohio. 

Interdependence of Rural Industrial Evolution and Social 
Development 

The solution of the rural problem depends upon 
development along two distinct, co-ordinate, and 
mutually dependent lines : one has 
reference to industrial evolution 
and the other to social transforma- 
tion. In any society,' however 
primitive, the industrial life must 
be economically profitable before a 
social structure, however simple, 
can be maintained. The social fab- 
ric is limited by industrial pros- 
perity. On the other hand, a low 
social life will not inspire the high- 
est industrial efficiency. While a 
social life can not endure at high-tide with an indus- 
trial ebb. neither can great industrial evolution be 
realized without a corresponding flow of the social 
life of a people to inspire it. 

19 




PROFESSOR BRICKER 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

The Institutions Concerned in Rural Industrial Evolution 

The industrial evolution in the open country con- 
cerns itself with the perfecting of a system of agri- 
culture in which labor, business, and science play the 
leading parts. The institutions that have been 
created for accomplishing this task, and that may 
justly be held responsible for it, are the agricultural 
colleges, the experiment stations, the departments of 
agriculture, the agricultural high schools, the agri- 
cultural courses of the public schools, both elementary 
and high, the various agricultural associations, organ- 
izations, and clubs, the farmers' institutes, and the 
grange and similar bodies. The ultimate aim of the 
activity of all these is a more intensive and profitable 
agriculture — the production of more and better raw 
materials for food, clothing, shelter, and aesthetic en- 
joyment of man, from the smallest area of land 
through the least expenditure of money, effort, and 
deterioration of the soil. It is a purely economic aim, 
and doubtless owes its tremendous momentum to the 
selfish disposition in the individual man, combined 
with the growing need of the race. 

The Institutions Concerned in Rural Social Development 

The social transformation has to do with the re- 
habilitation and the readjustment to modern rural 
conditions of those institutions through which rural 
social life finds its expression, or else with the creation 
of new organizations that shall serve and satisfy the 
social instinct of country people. The institutions 
that are of a right burdened with this responsibility 

20 



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A SHELL 

This church building is located in the midst of a very profit- 
able agricultural region. The farmers are careful to keep it in 
repair, clean it regularly, and speak of it as "our church." Well, 
it must be ! For the past twelve years not a single religious serv- 
ice has been held in it. The last service was a township Sunday 
school convention, in 1900. The farmers of the community 
seem to feel that the presence of this church building is necessary, 
and give of their substance to, keep it in repair. No one there 
would advocate the removal of this skeleton of a defunct social 
organization. The "labor income" is evidently adequate to 
sustain a nourishing Church organization, but the traditional 
Christian virtues seem to be lacking; the predominating aim of 
life among the people here is an economic one. Socially speak- 
ing, can the people of this community be rated as good farmers? 



21 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

are the rural home, the rural school, the country 
Church, and such other organizations as have for 
their object the betterment of rural life. The com- 
pelling force back of all these institutions is the social 
instinct of the individual — an inherent character of 
the race. The direction in which this instinct ex- 
presses itself will determine the nature of the institu- 
tion, whether cohabitive, religious, educational, or 
recreative. 

The Insufficiency of the Economic Aim as a Life Motive Force 

The economic aim of the agriculturist is not the 
ultimate aim of life, and to make it so, either in fact 
or supposition, will only insure the final failure of the 
great movement for which it is responsible. Social 
workers, therefore, who regard the economic aim only 
as a means for contributing to the permanent uplift 
and development of humanity, may well become 
alarmed with reference to the prominence which the 
economical ideal is assuming in the life and ideals of 
country people. We do not wish to be misunderstood 
in this view of the matter under discussion. It is not 
the purpose to decry wealth as a means for the accom- 
plishment of better things for humanity or for the 
realization of better conditions of life on the farm: 
our voice is raised against the disposition of making 
it the end of effort. A money-grasping rural popula- 
tion can never realize its highest development. A 
scientific agriculture, to be permanent, must be ac- 
companied by a corresponding development of the 
fundamental rural institutions — the rural home, the 

22 



THE PROBLEM IN PERSPECTIVE 

rural school, and the country Church. Besides these, 
but not independent of them, must be organizations 
through which play, amusement, social intercourse, 
and other social instincts of the people may find 
expression. These institutions are the core of country 
life, and unless scientific agriculture contributes to 
the evolution and maintenance of these, it can never 
be supported by an intelligent population, which is 
absolutely necessary to its final success as a con- 
servator of the human race. An institutional awaken- 
ing of rural communities can not, therefore, be ig- 
nored; and rural education, inasmuch as it aims to 
realize this awakening, is, from the larger point of 
view, even more essential than education in agri- 
culture. 

The Church as a Social Institution 

We now have a clear perspective as to the relative 
importance of the economic and the social forces in- 
volved in rural life development. We frankly ac- 
knowledge that social life and institutions in the open 
country are in a state of decadence. We may well 
now consider the causes that have had the deteriorat- 
ing effect, and especially the means and methods of 
rehabilitation, together with the experiences and con- 
victions of active rural workers who have met with a 
reasonable degree of success. 

We must, at the outset, recognize that the social 
institutions are the machines through which social 
energy works, and that the social leaders are the 
engineers. There is abundant social energy in every 
rural community; the great trouble is ; it is allowed to 

23 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

go to waste or is misdirected. In other words, this 
rural social energy does not flow through those tried 
and fundamental institutions in which it is most de- 
sirable that it should flow. The energy is there, but 
the machines are clogged, or they leak — perhaps both. 
Social institutions must be the organizations of the 
people whom they serve. Rural institutions must be 
permeated with the rural idea of things, and adapted 
to work in harmony with the mechanism of the rural 
system, its mode of life, its customs, and its ideals. 
They must fit into the rural economy. 

The country Church is one of these institutions. 
The divine conception of the Church is perfect; but 
the human interpretation of that conception and 
man's organism through which to work out that con- 
ception is necessarily fallible. Yesterday man in- 
vented and constructed a human mechanism adapted 
to the social life of his day, through which the eternal 
principles of God might act. Since yesterday man's 
social life has changed, and his social mechanism is 
no longer adequate to the needs of to-day; his genius 
must make a new adaptation of his social machine to 
meet the requirements of this generation. To-morrow 
the social structure will have' experienced further 
change, and again the human organization will need 
to be reconstructed. Seventeenth century institutions 
and equipments are not adequate to the needs of a 
twentieth century civilization. 

As a social institution, the rural Church has its 
definite sphere of activity. It can not hope to be- 
come, and indeed should not become the center of 

24 



THE PROBLEM IN PERSPECTIVE 

every community activity. The center of the purely 
intellectual activities of the community should be the 
rural school. The rural home must awaken to the 
necessity of opening its doors to take under a private 
roof the purely social affairs of the young life in the 
community. Here will be supplied the much-needed 
paternal protection and maternal restraint too often 
lacking in public gatherings and in community build- 
ings, which belong to everybody and are controlled 
by nobody. To the Church are surrendered all mat- 
ters pertaining to the moral, the religious, and the 
spiritual life of the community and its individuals. 
The country Church, therefore, becomes a community 
center for those social activities that involve any of 
these phases of life. 

The Problems of Leadership and Discipleship 

It must be confessed that there are two more 
important factors involved in the solution of the rural 
problem, and they are also included in the country 
Church problem. The first factor is that of leader- 
ship, and the second is that of discipleship. Every- 
where in rural communities there is a woeful lack of 
leaders, which is only equaled by the inability and 
unwillingness of country people to be led. An awe- 
stricken horse will die in preference to being led from 
a burning barn by his master; and to-day there are 
thousands of rural communities in America that are 
socially dead, because their people will not follow a 
leader. 



25 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

The Rural Problem is Integral 

It must not be overlooked that the rural problem 
is an integral one. It can not be solved by the re- 
habilitation of any one of its fundamental institu- 
tions. The rural institutions are so interrelated that 
the decadence of one will have a depressing effect 
upon the others; and the reviving of one will tend to 
enliven the remainder. On the other hand, the whole 
social structure can not be set aright through the 
awakening and redirecting of only one of its institu- 
tions. While undertaking to solve the country Church 
problem, the rural school and the rural home need 
serious attention and must not be neglected. The 
rural problem needs to be attacked as a whole. 



26 



CHAPTER II 

The Economic Relations of the Farmer 
and His Church 

By Warren H. Wilson, Ph. D., 

Superintendent, Department of Church and Country Life, Presby- 
terian Church in the United States of America, New York. 

In a general way, the farmer and his Church are 
related through the working of four principles. First 
of all, the Church is a typical ex- 
pression of the farmer's economic 
welfare. Second, the improvement 
of the Church, as of any social in- 
stitution, is made only from the 
profit of farming. It can not be ex- 
pected of any community that social 
institutions be improved by the use 
of borrowed money. Third, the 
farmer should give of his prosperity, 
dr. wilson measured in part by his profit, to 

the support of the Church. Fourth, the ethical dis- 
cipline which is essential to productive and profitable 
farming is the traditional, ethical code of the Christian 
Church. 

27 




SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

1. The Church as an Index to Rural Economic Welfare and 
Social Life 

The Church is the expression of economic welfare 
in the country. It may be called a register of the well- 
being of the farmer. In America the Church is a 
free institution. Not only is it free of governmental 
control, but all Churches are free of power to compel 
by tradition. The people in America are not autoch- 
thonous, but have come to the soil from afar. They 
have gone through the enfranchising experience of 
migration. Criticism and discussion have character- 
ized their movement from one land to another, across 
the seas and usually from State to State. Upon such 
a population the control of tradition is no longer 
possible. The establishment of a Church among 
them, granting one factor, is possible only with their 
free consent. That one factor is universal education, 
which, with some modification, is general throughout 
the United States. 

This kind of a Church, riding upon the waters of 
rural opinion and assent, is a quick and sensitive 
register of the welfare of the people. It reflects in 
its establishment their abundance or their want. It 
registers in its form of organization the type of their 
mind and the degree to which organization has pro- 
ceeded in their social life; and, more than all, it con- 
forms to the economic type to which the farmer 
belongs. 

The Four Types of the Historic Country Church. — 
This conformity of the country Church to the eco- 
nomic type is the most startling evidence of the play 

28 



ECONOMIC RELATIONS TO THE CHURCH 

of economic forces upon it. Indeed, the present dis- 
turbance of country Churches is due, primarily, to 
the transition going on in the country between one 
type and another. Broadly speaking, there have been 
four types of farmer in America, and each of these 
types, produced by the economic struggle in the 
country, has built his own Church, and stamped upon 
it his own typical character. 

The pioneer made his Church individualistic, emo- 
tional, like himself. Because the loneliness of the 
mountain and the prairie had gone into his soul, he 
stated it in his doctrine of personal salvation and 
organized it in his methods of periodical revival; and 
he built it into his buildings, which centered around 
a pulpit. 

The household farmer, the genial, economic type 
which we all know, whose life was characterized by 
the perfection of the economic group in the farm 
household, had his Church like unto himself. The 
country Church in his day was a cluster of families, 
and it had no general interests, typically speaking. 
It was a perfect institution in that it rounded out — 
in leisurely thinking, formal and systematic theological 
preaching, and genial, wholesome living — the best 
ideals of the Christian world at that time. But it 
must be remembered that the worshiper in the pioneer 
church would have thought the church of the house- 
hold farmer the temple of worldliness. The house- 
hold farmer would have been restless and unfed in 
the violent, emotional atmosphere of the pioneer 
church. 

29 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

The third economic type in American country life 
is the speculative and exploiting farmer. He was 
foreshadowed in the household farmer, who tilled the 
soil for first values only. There is little to choose 
between this and exploitation. The speculative period 
began when the first values of the land were exhausted, 
and when the Eastern farmer could not compete with 
the Western tiller of virgin soil. About 1890, after 
years of westward migration, when the free lands of 
the West were gone, a price was put upon every 
acre, broadly speaking, between the Atlantic Ocean 
and the Missouri River. 

The period of speculative farming has produced 
three sub-types of farmers, every one of them influ- 
ential in the religious life of the country. They are 
the farm tenant, the absentee landlord, and the re- 
tired farmer. Ask the minister in the Middle West 
who these people are, and he will tell you of his pro- 
foundest anxiety. Their influence upon the Church 
is greater than that of theologians, of seminaries, and 
of evangelists. Under the speculative holding of land, 
40 per cent, 50 per cent, or 60 per cent of the farmers 
around the country church have become renters. In 
the villages and towns, the retired farmer is usually 
an unprogressive, ungenerous, and disappointed mem- 
ber of the Church, while the absentee landlord occu- 
pies the central place in influence; but, so far, lias 
evaded all proper demands of the Church in the 
country. 

• The Coming Type of Country Church. — The fourth 
economic type of countryman is the scientific and or- 

30 



ECONOMIC RELATIONS TO THE CHURCH 

ganized farmer. One can say but little of his influ- 
ence, because it has not yet become mature. It is 
easy to see that he too will build a church like unto 
himself. It will have many of the characteristics of the 
"Institutional Church." It will be a social and com- 
munity center. It will have an intelligent interest in 
scientific farming. Its minister will preach in terms 
of the farm, and its organization will be co-operative, 
in obedience to the new spirit, and its outlook will be 
world-wide. Such Churches are already well organ- 
ized and matured in certain defined regions, in 
which husbandry is also mature, scientific, and or- 
ganized. 

These statements illustrate in part the close rela- 
tion between the Church in a free commonwealth and 
the economic life of the people. It is so intimate that 
the Church may be called the thermometer of the 
welfare of country people. This statement may be 
expanded in numerous ways, for the Church reflects 
Very promptly the social character of the people, being 
democratic or aristocratic, conforming to the tribe 
and feud spirit, or obeying the community sense as it 
grows; responsive also to the world-consciousness 
which some communities have acquired. 

Especially is the Church the reflector of actual 
economic prosperity, in contrast to financial pros- 
perity, in the country. The definition of prosperity 
by L. H. Bailey in his book, ''The Country Life 
Movement," will be written in the country churches. 
He says: "My reader may wish to know what con- 
stitutes a good farmer. I 'think that the requirements 

31 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

of a good farmer are at least four: The ability to 
make a full and comfortable living from the land; to 
rear a family carefully and well; to be of good service 
to the community; to leave the farm more productive 
than it was when he took it." Such prosperity means 
a permanent population. It means the continuance 
of the same people in the community, satisfied, con- 
tented, and industrious. In this satisfaction of a per- 
manent population, the Church in the country is an 
essential factor; and a contented, continuing popula- 
tion expresses its mind and organizes its permanency 
in the country Church. 

2. Church Improvement Dependent upon Labor Income 

The second economic relation between the Church 
and the farmer is one which characterizes all social 
institutions in the country. These institutions are 
supported not out of borrowed money, but out of 
the profits, or " labor income," of the farmer. We 
are hearing a great deal in these days about the high 
price of farm land. It is cited as an illustration of the 
farmer's prosperity. These high prices are not due in 
any way to the farmer's labor or skill. They come of 
themselves, unsought, and they may depart again in 
spite of all the farmer can do. Their value to the 
farmer, however, is in the increase of his capital. 
Against this capital he can borrow for the improve- 
ment of his land. They enlarge his working credit. 
On this credit he can purchase farm machinery, better 
stock, and fertilizer; and with it he can pay for labor, 
to the improvement- of his land and the increase of 

32 



ECONOMIC RELATIONS TO THE CHURCH 

his productive property. But he can not, because his 
credit is better, pay for better social institutions. 

The improvement of social institutions comes 
solely from the profit of the farm. This is written 
into all the Old Testament laws, which ordered that 
the farmer should pay to the support of religious in- 
stitutions, "as the Lord had prospered him." No 
doubt a country community could be expected to 
build a church at the beginning on borrowed money, 
because such a church would be a necessity of life. 
Likewise a schoolhouse might be built by mortgaging 
farm land, but it would be a bare institution, suited 
to the service of mere necessities. Our present-day 
problem is the improvement of the Church and of the 
school. The increase of ministers' salaries, the re- 
building of country churches, the consolidation of 
country schools — all these improvements wait for the 
increase of the farmer's "labor income," by which I 
mean the net profit he has in return for his work. 

The Cause of the Retarded Country Church. — The 
meaning of this is that the Church in the country is, 
above all other institutions, retarded in its develop- 
ment until the farmer shall prosper. It can not go 
forward, the minister's salary can not be adapted to 
the increased expensiveness of living, the Church can 
not be organized as an effective social center, housed 
in a new and elaborate structure, until the farmer has 
an income adequate to this increased social expendi- 
ture. The rural moralist will not rightly urge the 
spending of borrowed money for the improvement of 
social machinery. 

3 33 




ONE OF THE FARM RESIDENCES 




ONE OF THE CHURCH BUILDINGS 



Types of buildings of four institutions in a rural community 
where the labor income is very low. They are faithful indices 

34 




ONE OF THE RURAL SCHOOLHOUSES 




THE HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING 

of the economic prosperity of the community as a whole, which 
is absolutely dependent upon the land. 

35 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

This explains why country institutions are re- 
tarded in many places. The farmer is not meaner 
than other classes of men. Indeed, he is more inter- 
ested in the Church in the average instance than the 
townsman is ; but he has too small an income from his 
labor to feel justified in an expenditure upon better 
churches, consolidated schools, and stone roads. In 
the State of Missouri, on good farm land, the general 
testimony of farmers is that after paying the legal 
rate of interest, the- farmer retains merely enough 
from his labor to pay the bills at the store. In New 
York State, in the township nearest Cornell Uni- 
versity, among farmers who have benefited greatly 
by the service rendered them by the College of Agri- 
culture, the yearly " labor income" among six hun- 
dred and fifteen farmers, whose affairs were inten- 
sively studied, was found to average four hundred 
and twenty- three dollars. This is a little more than 
one dollar and twenty cents a day. If these men, 
who are accounted so prosperous, have an income so 
small, how are farmers in other sections of the country 
to be estimated? They consider themselves unable 
to pay for the improvement of rural social institu- 
tions, including the Church. The reason underlying 
this opinion is what I have stated, that such improve- 
ments can not be paid for with borrowed money: 
they can only be paid for out of profit — and profit is 
lacking. 

Iowa is accounted a prosperous agricultural State, 
but the editor of Wallace's Farmer, in a recent ad- 
dress, publicly declared that the margin of profit in 

36 



ECONOMIC RELATIONS TO THE CHURCH 

Iowa corresponds to the margin of child labor on the 
farm. He declared that the "labor income" of the 
farm is the "labor income" earned by the child. This 
does not speak well for the prosperity of Iowa. It 
would not be worth mentioning here, if it were not 
a highly representative condition. There are more 
States in the Union with a lower prosperity than there 
are with a higher prosperity, as compared with Iowa. 
It is difficult in Iowa to persuade farmers to improve 
their schools and to better their roads. It is difficult 
to persuade them that they can afford any rural 
social improvements. The agent, however, of ma- 
chinery, of fertilizer, or the seller of pedigreed stock 
can convince the Iowa farmer that his wares are 
needed on the farm. In a rough way, the Iowa 
farmer is right. He has the money for productive 
improvements, because his land value has increased, 
but he has not the money for social improvements, 
because his profit has not increased as fast as his land 
value. In order to have social improvements in the 
country, the farmer who is able to survive in that 
region and to maintain himself as a farmer, must 
have, above the normal rate of interest upon the 
selling value of his land, a "labor income" that is 
satisfactory and reasonably permanent. 

An Agricultural Ministry? — -For this reason the 
Churches in the country are bound fast to the eco- 
nomic improvement of farming. They have an im- 
mediate interest in it. Those Churches have pros- 
pered in the country that did not pay their ministers, 
but required them to earn their living as farmers, 

37 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

because economic prosperity and religious prosperity 
were embodied in the same man. A Menonite bishop 
in Pennsylvania has an eighty-three-acre farm, from 
which in 1911 he took: 

1,300 bushels corn, at 75 cents $775 00 

800 bushels wheat, at 95 cents 760 00 

Tobacco 953 00 

Dairy products 500 00 

Total $2,988 00 

His labor expense for this was about $620. Adding 
$750 to this for a 6 per cent interest on the invest- 
ment and $150 for fertilizer, you have a total ex- 
pense of $1,520, which leaves a balance of $1,468 
for the bishop's own " labor income" from a farm of 
eighty-three acres. This minister is an ideal repre- 
sentative of the natural union of economic and re- 
ligious affairs. We have here not a relation, but an 
identity. One can not commend Menonite organiza- 
tions to most American folk. It is not a conscious 
organization, a but a traditional one. It will not serve 
outside the range of this tradition; but it illustrates, 
for the moment, the value, both for religious tenacity 
and for productive farming, of the union of economic 
and religious aims. 

In the Mormon Church, also, the minister has no 
i salary. He must always be a farmer. On the same 
reasoning the Mormon is a good farmer, because the 
bishop of the State is, in his own person, both a 
prosperous farmer and a successful religious leader. 
He can not be the one without the other. Without 

38 



ECONOMIC RELATIONS TO THE CHURCH 

commending the ingenuous arrangement, it illustrates 

the close union of economic success with religious 

power. 

3. The Lord's Share of the Farmer's Profits 

The third principle is that the farmer should give 
of his prosperity to the support of the Church. The 
argument here concerns the Church in existence in 
the country. If it is true, as stated before, that the 
Church has a close relation to the general economic 
experience of the people, and that the Church is 
related in its improvement to the profit, or "labor 
income," of the typical farmer in the community, 
then it follows that the farmer should recognize his 
profit, or "labor income," from the farm as a religious 
thing. 

Farming becomes, with the serious man, an ex- 
perience of Divine Providence. The man who tills 
the soil is very near to Nature, and induced by her 
many phases and moods to think upon the divine. 
He is constantly contending, both in antagonism and 
in co-operation, with the forces of nature, which have 
always reminded the human being of the unseen. He 
can not plant his crop except there be faith in him. 
He must believe in the orderly process of nature or 
he can not do the work of a farmer, and as "we learn 
by doing," rather than by what is told us, he comes 
in his very instincts, and certainly in all his thoughts, 
to be a believer. Nature is so vast and her many 
phases so new, her resources unbounded, so that a 
man lives in wonder and moves in an atmosphere of 
humility. The danger with the farmer is of fatalism 

39 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

and of too great submission of himself. The almost 
invariable experience of a farmer is some religious 
feeling and belief. 

There is needed, however, a definite cultivation of 
country people in the matter of giving. For this 
reason Biblical writers have their clear-cut preach- 
ments in regard to the tithe. The Old Testament 
expressed definite ideas in law and in prophecy along 
this line. There was no doubt of their sense of the 
intimate relation between the economic and the re- 
ligious life of the Hebrews. The writers of the Old 
Testament were preaching and legislating for farmers. 
The Psalms are countrymen's songs. They bespeak 
the intimacy of religious life with landscape, with 
forest, and with field. Above all, in the social organ- 
ization of the Jews it was written into their very 
philosophy and enacted into their laws, that he who 
prospered should proportionately give to the support 
of the worship of God. 

In our time these principles have been somewhat 
modified. Persons of great devotion still consider 
themselves bound to give a tithe. Their influence is 
greater than their power to convince others and to 
enlist them in obedience to Old Testament law. The 
two methods which prevail in modern Churches are 
the system of giving in envelopes, and what is 
called the budget system. These two closely re- 
lated methods of organizing rural prosperity have 
great value in the training of country people in the 
recognition of economic prosperity as a religious 
experience. 

40 



ECONOMIC RELATIONS TO THE CHURCH 

The Budget System of Giving. — In the budget 
system, the Church determines in a democratic way 
what moneys shall be spent during the coming year. 
This has the effect of regulating benevolence and puts 
the Church in the place to command, as well as to 
protect, the benevolence of the community. The 
total amount to be given by the group of rural workers 
is then distributed among them according to their 
known income or ability to pay. This assessment is 
cheerfully met by the members of the country Church, 
if only it be arrived at in a democratic and effective 
manner. 

The contribution for the year being thus deter- 
mined, envelopes are distributed throughout the con- 
gregation, in order that each member may give in a 
uniform receptacle, for each Sunday in the year, a 
fraction of his yearly contribution. By a duplex 
envelope having two pockets, the member is given 
control of the distribution of his gifts between • local 
benevolence and the general interests supported by 
the Church. There can not be a better method de- 
vised than this for the gifts of a group of people who 
are under no authority, and who voluntarily support 
out of their profits an institution closely related to 
their living. It is democratic, simple, flexible, and 
gives to the people themselves the powers of recall 
and of initiative, which in politics are very slow of 
enactment. 

4. The Traditional Christian Character and the Farmer 

The fourth principle is that the moral character 
of the productive and profitable farmer is the tradi- 

41 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

tional Christian character taught in the old-fashioned 
Church. To produce and to thrive, the farmer must 
be austere, honest, and industrious. These things 
have been taught- in country Churches for genera- 
tions. I will allow that in the present generation, 
owing to the disturbed condition of country life, due 
to reasons I have already named, there is very little 
rural preaching. We are reminded by a great agri- 
cultural teacher that the best of our preachers need 
to learn "to preach in terms of farm life." They do 
not do so at present. The minister who goes out into 
the country to preach where he does not live, from a 
town in which he may or may not preach, is city- 
minded. He does not think like a countryman. He 
does not preach the productive, profitable virtues. 
He talks about archaeology and eschatology. He 
tries to fit men for a heaven unseen by the example 
of generations long since dead. He carries with him 
an atmosphere of town and railroad and city life. 
The books he reads are about urban affairs. The 
daily newspaper, which he studies every morning, is 
printed in the city, and probably despises the country- 
man. But this is a temporary condition. Old- 
fashioned preachers used to dwell on honesty, indus- 
try, austerity. Let us look at these for a moment to 
see what of value they have for productive and profit- 
able farming. 

The Traditional Virtues. — Only an honest man can 
do well in the country, because co-operation is not 
organized; it is an atmosphere in the country, and 
its performances are not obligatory; they are volun- 

42 



ECONOMIC RELATIONS TO THE CHURCH 

iary. Country people will not co-operate with a man 
whom they do not respect and whose integrity is 
doubted. They will not give him work. They will 
not lend to him nor borrow from him; and just so far 
as a man is dishonest in the country, he is by so much 
less productive and less able to command that in- 
stinctive co-operation, without which good farming 
is impossible. In spite of the American unwillingness 
to co-operate in formal ways, agriculture is essentially 
co-operative in informal, instinctive, and mutual ways. 
This is a constant, daily experience of the farm, so 
that the Church in the country must teach and must 
illustrate the domination of honesty over self-interest 
in the farmer. Especially is this true in the country 
community, because every man's motives, as well as 
his actions, are there transparent. Disguise is im- 
possible and hypocrisy is not attempted. Every man 
lives before the eyes of his fellows, and character is 
accurately known. 

In the same way the Church must teach industry. 
This is also a part of the traditional message of the 
Christian Church. The nations who are to-day 
called Christian are more nearly free from idleness 
than any peoples in the world ; and it is in large part 
due to the organization of economic response, by re- 
ligious doctrine and by homiletic appeal. The 
country minister, therefore, who cares for the country, 
sees the necessity of continual culture in the labor of 
the farm. As a matter of fact, in no other sphere of 
modern life is industry so universal, making due 
allowance for local difference, as it is in country life. 

43 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

But the most productive of all traits in the country 
is austerity. "All good farmers are austere," says 
the economist, and he defines austerity to mean "the 
producing of much and the consuming of little." 
Generally, religious life in the country has this 
austerity. It enters into all the establishments, es- 
pecially rural. This austerity is, however, not a 
preachment, but first of all it is a practice. It grows 
out of the grim struggle with the soil — the necessity 
of securing enough of what the soil will produce for 
its tiller, and an abundance wherefrom he can secure 
not merely a product, but a profit. As farming be- 
comes increasingly profitable, it becomes increasingly 
austere, because profit is got from the producing of 
more and the consuming of ever less. It is not to be 
wondered at that this austerity has taken in our time 
the form of expelling from the country all play ac- 
tivities, and excluding in a marked degree from the 
country community degenerate individuals and irreg- 
ular types, who are in doubt about their devotion to 
productive work. 

This austerity has crystallized into definite re- 
ligious forms, for to be austere means that the men 
shall rule, man being the producer and woman being 
the consumer. It means also that the old men shall 
rule over the young men, the women, and the chil- 
dren. This means a government of elders, and rural 
religion is generally elder-ruled. In the Churches in 
America that have survived upon the soil, or that 
have been born from the soil, the governing figure is 
the "elder," and the "elder" is an economic type. 

44 




GOD'S BARN 



The Church organization here at one time paid a minister a 
decent salary of $1,200. Doubtless the structure was built, and 
for a short time maintained, on "borrowed" capital; i. e., the 
amount contributed by the farmers to sustain this Church was 
at first more than the "labor income." Finally the Church 
society disbanded, the building abandoned, and subsequently 
used for a barn. 

The nearest church to this community is four and one-half 
miles distant. Hundreds of people were at one time served by 
this deserted church, who still might be served by a church 
located here. There is a social and spiritual need for a Church 
organization in this particular community, but before one may 
be maintained, there must be better farming, in order that the 
labor "income" may be increased. Austerity, combined with 
intelligent industry, will be much-needed virtues in the farmers 
of this region. An agricultural and home arts training for the 
oncoming generation may be the condition for the best realiza- 
tion of these virtues and the blessings resulting from a good rural 
Church organization. 

45 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

Projected into a religious form, he stands for austerity; 
that, is, the producing of much and the consuming of 
little. His austere doctrine and grim, hard views cf 
life are the religious and moral corollaries of the stern 
struggle in which he has dominated his religion y his 
household, and his land, with a productive and a 
thrifty mind. 

The Marginal Rural People are Representative. — 
These four principles may not exhaust the theme, 
but they are elements in the bond of union which 
holds the Church in the country to the life of the 
people there. Only one thing -more need be said. 
The point of attachment, by which the economic life 
is related to the religious, is in the marginal people 
of the country. What is here said may not be obvi- 
ously true' of the prosperous farmer, and it may have 
no bearing upon the degenerate or indolent farmers 
of depleted sections. It is meant to be a description 
of the religious and economic union of the life of 
people barely able to survive. These people on the 
margin cf rural prosperity are the typical and, there- 
fore, they are the representative, people in the 
country. When one speaks of the country community, 
he must measure every word by its power to describe 
the surviving type; and the man and the family who 
can barely get a satisfactory living in the country — 
they represent all classes there. By their condition 
are institutions made, and out of their life the com- 
mon experience comes. What is true of them is com- 
mon to all. They live the representative life. Others 
have special and peculiar privilege, or special and 

46 



ECONOMIC RELATIONS TO THE CHURCH 

peculiar suffering. Institutions are not made of 
things special or peculiar, but they are built out of 
representative conditions. The representative life in 
any community is the life of people barely able to 
survive with satisfaction in that community. 

These, the marginal people, aspire for a living. 
Their ambitions are measured by a desire for the 
necessities of life. Their prayers are breathed for 
feed and shelter, for a living wage, and for the com- 
mon, universal necessities — education, music, news, 
social intercourse, and hope. This prayer of itself is 
the deepest of all religious aspirations. It is a desire 
for the satisfaction of economic wants, and in the 
Bible of the ordinary man the most precious of all 
passages is that written, it is said, by a countryman, 
in which he declares that his religion is a belief that 
God satisfies the economic wants, for he says, "The 
Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want!" 



47 



CHAPTER III 

The Limitations, the Opportunities, and 

the Possibilities of the Country 

Church 

By Matthew Brown McNutt, M. E., B. A., B. D., 

Field Assistant, Department of Church and Country Life, Board of 

Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the United 

States of America, New York. 

1. The Limitations of the Country Church 

The limitations of the country Church are many, 
as every one who has observed the situation knows 
full well. What are these limitations? It is impor- 
tant to know. An institution, like a 
person, may have faults and not 
know it — defects that could be over- 
come. 

It is a great kindness to any 
person to have some faithful friend 
to point out to him his shortcomings. 

"O, wad some power the giftie gi'e us 
To see oursel's as others see us! 
It wad frae monie a blunder free us 
REV. MR. McNUTT And fooHsh not ion." 

As the good angel of the manse has mirrored to 
many a Dominie the little peculiarities that would 
hinder his greatest usefulness, and thereby help him 

48 








•.% V. ;'j\ i I , 


ESis^fl 


... 








?^&feSl' 2 «5MffliHa§M&v4fc 



THE APPROACH TO MT. CARMEL CHURCH 




*T7'> V 



THE MT. CARMEL CHURCH 
49 




THE INTERIOR OF MT. CARMEL CHURCH 



FIFTY YEARS BEHIND THE TIMES.— NOTES. 



The road here traveled by Christians is surely sufficiently 
rugged to cause them to walk circumspectly. 

The membership of Mt. Carmel Church about three years 
ago was seven. A "big meetin'" during the subsequent winter 
doubled the membership, and there was great rejoicing at Mt. 
Carmel. A distant relative of one of the leaders in the little 
church, who lived in a neighboring county, was employed to 
preach at Mt. Carmel every other Sunday. It was agreed to pay 
the minister five dollars each preachin' Sunday; but there were 
those in the Church who soon became of the opinion that too 
much of the Church's money was going to one family — the family 
to which the preacher belonged. A faction of nearly half the 
congregation was formed, which demanded that another minister 
should be secured — one who did not have any ties, either by 
blood or marriage, with the family in question. The result was 
a split in the Church, which was already too weak for effective 
service against sin. 

There are many Mt. -Carmels throughout the land. Rural 
people must learn to co-operate socially as well as economically; 
and co-operation may frequently mean self-denial on the part of 
families and individuals. 

50 



OPPORTUNITIES AND POSSIBILITIES 

to overcome them, the writer of this chapter, in the 
same spirit, would call attention to the limitations of 
the country Church. 

Antiquated Buildings- and Equipment. — In the first 
place, the average country church building and its 
equipment are fifty years behind the times, and are 
wholly inadequate to serve the modern needs of the 
rural people. There stands the little old-fashioned 
church of our grandfathers in the midst of the farmer's 
up-to-date machinery and other modern equipment. 
If our grandparents were again to return to earth, 
these little old churches, which they built with their 
hard-earned savings, would be about all they would 
recognize among the many new things they would 
find here now, unless it would be the "little red 
schoolhouses." And I fear they would miss, most of 
all, much of the piety and the spirit of devotion and 
worship that in their day was so common. Should 
any of these dear old grandfathers on this return trip 
go to the garret and haul out an ancient grain cradle 
and start to cut a swath around that sixty-acre oat- 
field, the grandson would think he had lost his mind.. 
But would not the aged saint have just as much 
reason for thinking that his son was "out of his head" 
when he attempts to reap a twentieth-century spiritual 
harvest with all the old-time church equipment? 

Some friends told me recently of a Children's Day 
service held in a country church located in the great 
corn belt in Central Illinois, where there is probably 
the richest soil in the world. At this service eleven 
touring cars, with at least a total valuation of $10,000, 

51 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

drove up around that little old church, which would 
hardly bring $200, furnishings and all, at public 
auction. The writer saw it. The seats were nothing 
but straight board benches, and were said by one of 
the ladies to be "regular back-breakers." The build- 
ing was bare and unattractive within and without. 

There was little money here for Church support 
— $300 a year for half the time of an aged, broken- 
down minister, who lived and preached also in a 
village seven miles distant, but who had just re- 
signed. This is pathetic. Would that it were an ex- 
ceptional case! But there are many such rural 
churches. 

Inadequate Financial Support. — The writer talked 
with a country minister in the community adjoining 
the one just considered, who was serving four such 
country Churches. He said he was going to resign 
his charge in the fall, because his salary did not 
afford him a living. 

A second limitation, therefore, is inadequate fi- 
nancial support. Outside of one hundred and fifty of 
the largest cities in the United States, there are 
seventy-five thousand ministers, who receive an aver- 
age salary each of $573 a year. This is not a living 
wage at the present high cost of living. It is no 
more than the common, unskilled laborer is paid, 
who requires no special preparation for his work. It 
is very much lower than is paid for any other kind of 
skilled labor, or in other professions. Railroad en- 
gineers get an average salary of $1,200 a year, and 
policemen $1,000. No man can be efficient and dis- 

52 



OPPORTUNITIES AND POSSIBILITIES 

charge the many duties incumbent upon the country 
minister to-day on the wage that the rural preacher 
receives at the present time. It is simply impossible. 

Inefficient Leadership. — Lack of efficient leadership 
is another limitation of the country Church. In the 
first place, our country ministers are not properly 
trained, either in colleges or the seminaries, for the 
work in country parishes. We may go back still 
further, and include the preparatory and the public 
schools. There is little of the real country mind and 
spirit and life in any of them. The subject matter 
taught is either foreign to the country, or it is taught 
in such a way as to disconnect it from the farm. The 
proof of these statements is found in the fact that so 
few men and women trained in the higher institutions 
of learning seek country positions as their first choice, 
with the intention of remaining there permanently. 

The trend of the rural minister and teacher, as 
they gain experience and become proficient, is ever 
away from the rural church and the rural school, 
first to the larger town and finally to the city, the 
ever-enticing goal of ''greater opportunity" and 
"wider field of usefulness," so-called. It is bad 
training that puts such foolishness into men's minds. 
The back-to-the-country Church movement among 
ministers comes only when they or some of their 
family break in health — when there is lack of physical 
capacity for hard work. 

Weaknesses of the College and the Seminary. — The 
average college and seminary professor knows little 
about the country at first-hand; and he cares less, or 

53 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

he would take more interest in the rural people. (I 
have no grudge against any of them.) Most of these 
men have been reared on the farm; but the country 
they now know is the country of their youth, which 
is a very different thing. Perhaps they have been 
back to the farm a few times for a vacation. If they 
have studied the country at all, it has been a study 
about the country, rather than the country itself. 
How can these gentlemen, at such long range, there- 
fore, either inspire young men and women to serve 
positions in the rural districts or train them to be 
efficient in that service? 

Certain theological professors maintain that it is 
not for them to teach men to farm. There is little 
danger of their doing that, but there is great danger 
of their training young men away from the farm 
who are needed in the service of the country people. 

Our seminaries and colleges will have done some- 
thing for the country Church if they so impress young 
men that they will consider a country field of labor 
worthy of a life-work, the same as a foreign mission 
field or a position in a city. But they can do much 
more than this. They can instruct their students how 
to preach and teach the truth to country people in 
terms of country life — how to open up to the farmer 
the book of Nature in such a way that he may see 
God in it and through it, that he may come to a 
better understanding of the life and the forces about 
him, and how to use these forces to the best advan- 
tage. Besides, a study and discussion of rural condi- 
tions and institutions in seminary and college would 

54 



OPPORTUNITIES AND POSSIBILITIES 

be an invaluable aid to those who expect to work and 
live in the country. A study of the country life itself, 
its joys and sorrows, its pleasures and habits, its pos- 
sibilities, its hopes, and its compensations, would be 
a real asset to the country minister. 

Country Church administration would be another 
appropriate theme for study. It is too much to ex- 
pect of the country minister that he shall solve all 
these things for himself after he has begun work on 
his field. He has something else to do then. I do 
not mean that the country minister does not need all 
the training he usually receives, but that he needs 
something in addition to the ordinary college and 
seminary courses. 

The Need of Readjusting Ecclesiastical Adminis- 
tration. — If our rural ministers were better fitted for 
their work, they could not render their best service 
under our present system of country Church admin- 
istration. 

As a rule, our country Churches are served by 
ministers who live in towns several miles distant. 
Each has two or perhaps three or more places at which 
to preach. The different communities served by a 
single minister quite likely present different condi- 
tions which require different methods. He has not 
much time to spend in shepherding his country flock, 
and his supervision must of necessity be very general 
in its character. He really does not get much ac- 
quainted with his country folk. He is not of them. 
He lives elsewhere. Our country Churches will never 
be rightly served until they can have resident pastors. 

55 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

Lack of co-operation among the different denomi- 
nations and with other rural institutions is another 
thing that limits the usefulness of the country 
Church, 

So often we find a number of weak Churches in a 
rural community, each struggling along with its own 
little program, leaving the bulk of the work needing 
to be done still untouched. Sometimes petty jeal- 
ousies are found lurking between one denomination 
and another, making any kind of community work 
impossible. As a result of these things, the Church 
presents to the world no solid front, either for evan- 
gelizing or teaching the world, or for defense against 
false doctrines and other evils. Many an inroad has 
thus been made through the Christian ranks by the 
evil one, while the disciples of Christ tarry to settle 
some ecclesiastic difficulty. 

Lack of Vision. — What the Church in the country 
has failed to accomplish may in most cases be traced 
to a lack of vision. For, as the Scriptures say, "Where 
there is no vision the people perish." "The blind 
can not lead the blind." Leaders without vision are 
like dead men; they make no demands — except to be 
buried — either upon their constituency or upon the 
Almighty, who is able and willing to do more for His 
people than they can think or ask. 

Rural preachers often do not ask and work for 
the biggest and best things. They see the farmer 
struggling for existence — often living the life of a 
slave— and have nothing to offer; or where the 
farmer is succeeding, they allow him to build great 

56 



OPPORTUNITIES AND POSSIBILITIES 

houses and barns, stock his farm with blooded cattle, 
put in the latest machinery on the market, buy his 
neighbor's farm, or purchase an automobile, and 
never present to him the proposition of a better 
church, a more comfortable home, a more efficient 
school, or a richer and more 'wholesome community 
life. 

The young people, in endless procession, are al- 
lowed to march away from the farm to fill city posi- 
tions without ever having been impressed with the 
needs and possibilities of life on the farm. 

The recreational facilities of the rural people are 
often either neglected or they are turned over to 
commercialized agencies, which are frequently de- 
frauding and demoralizing. Little effort is made to 
develop the home talent of the community. There 
is meager opportunity for social intercourse. Life on 
the farm grows more and more monotonous. There 
is nothing left but work, work, work! The people 
grow tired and restless, or they have n't enough life 
left in them to desire anything better. They want to 
get away from the farm, and they go by the thousands. 
Who can blame them for going? The country Church 
needs a new vision of its responsibility in the social 
life of its people. 

Summary of Limitations. — Lack of vision, inade- 
quate leadership, failure of adjustment, a mistrained 
ministry, poor equipment, and insufficient financial 
support constitute, in my judgment, the most serious 
limitations of the country Church of to-day. 



57 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

2. The Opportunities of the Country Church 

Although the limitations of the rural Church are 
many, its opportunities and avenues for service are 
more. Indeed, the opportunities for moral and re- 
ligious service in the open country are so numerous, 
and the need so pressing, that they create a responsi- 
bility of such great proportions that the limitation- 
bound Church is all but paralyzed by it. The rural 
Church machinery can not move the great, social 
burden that is crushing it. Let us consider some of 
the most important opportunities. 

Co-operation of Rural School and Country Church. 
— As to the co-operation with other rural institutions, 
the country Church has been slow to see and to grasp 
its opportunities to place the leaven and to inspire. 

While the Church stands for education, she has 
been content to see the country school worry along 
at a snail's gait, making little progress in half a 
century. The majority of our country schools are 
still taught by untrained teachers, at a wage not 
larger than is paid to a common day-laborer, with 
very poor equipment, and often amid surroundings 
and conditions that endanger the health of the pupils, 
and which tend to corrupt their morals. 

Has not the Church a mission to inspire something 
better for the education of our country boys and girls 
than these poorly-equipped and poorly-taught public 
schools, which are now so common in our rural dis- 
tricts? The deficiency of the rural system of educa- 
tion is an opportunity of the rural religious organiza- 
tion for a most helpful service. 

58 




INTERIOR OF PLEASANT HILL SCHOOL 

Pleasantness all gone. 




THE TYPICAL EQUIPMENT OF THOUSANDS OF RURAL SCHOOLS 

Little more than reading, righting, and 'rithmetic can be 
taught with the equipment of this school. 

59 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

Championing Rural Life. — Farmers form a class 
far more numerous than those engaged in any other 
industry or business. The world is dependent for 
the necessities of life upon the farmer's products; yet 
his cause as a social being and citizen of the State is 
the last to be championed. The city boys and girls 
are protected by law; but whoever heard of a child- 
labor law being enforced for country children? Work- 
ing and living conditions have been investigated in 
city homes, stores, schools, shops, factories, and 
mines. Laws have been framed to prohibit abuses 
and inhumane treatment of men, women, and chil- 
dren, but too often they are not regarded on the 
farm and in farm' homes. Are there no such abuses 
in the country, or are the country people so abun- 
dantly able to take care of themselves? That there is 
frequent abuse of labor, of the birthright of children, 
of sanitation, of morals, of civic righteousness, of 
marital relations, of social intercourse, and many 
other infractions of common decency, can not be 
successfully denied. A potent country Church might 
do much to remedy these conditions that are now 
so often tolerated in rural communities. 

Church Mediatorship in Securing Co-operation.— 
Some effort has been made at class organization 
among farmers, but as yet it has only begun. The 
principle of co-operation is a Christian principle, but 
as yet it has been little developed among the millions 
of people who till the soil. The rural Church has a 
great mission to perform in bringing the country 
people up to the point where they can and will work 

60 




THE DRINKING CUP AT HEN PECK SCHOOL 




A CROWDED, DUSTY CORNER OF A RURAL SCHOOL WITH AN OPEN WATER 
BUCKET AND A COMMON DRINKING CUP 



61 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

together in natural co-operation for their own good 
and for the good of the whole race. A closer co-oper- 
ation between country and city also would be mutually 
helpful. 

The spirit of suspicion that so commonly exists 
among farmers is frequently mentioned as one of the 
chief causes that prevents them from working in co- 
operation with themselves or with city people. Truth, 
honesty, and uprightness are virtues that the Church 
inculcates in its members, and all true Christians 
must practice them. Let the country Church be 
vigilant in regard to its membership. When member- 
ship in a Christian Church becomes a reasonably sure 
guarantee of the establishment of these virtues in the 
thoughts and actions of the individuals so favored, 
suspicion among those who are blessed by Church 
relationship must become practically nil. Either vol- 
untary or forced fidelity to Christian principles will 
thus become the corner-stone of all forms of co- 
operation among those country people who associate 
themselves with the prepotent country Church. On 
the other hand, a similar moral guarantee in respect 
to the members of city Churches would make possible 
an economic co-operation between the rural Church 
membership as a producer of raw materials and the 
city Church membership as the consumer of such 
materials; and the conditions for the exchange of 
manufactured articles on a co-operative basis in the 
reverse order would be equally favorable. Doubtless 
many economic co-operative associations for the 
mutual benefit of country and city people might be 

62 




A HOG LOT, WHICH CONTAINED ABOUT FIFTY HOGS, JUXTAPOSED THIS 
NARROW RURAL SCHOOL LOT 



63 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

formed through the mediation of Church organiza- 
tions. The rural Church has here a great mission in 
making right conditions, in pointing out the way, in 
encouragement, and in initiation. This done, and 
the country Church will, to a large degree, have 
measured up to her duty in providing for the eco- 
nomic welfare of her people ; for no one will claim that 
the Church should become an active commercial or 
business agent. 

Readjustment. — Times are ever changing, which 
bring forth new needs and conditions. To meet these 
new demands successfully, institutions must ever be 
changing their methods and their equipment. The 
business world has recognized this, and has accommo- 
dated its methods to the changes. City institutions, 
including the Church, have kept up with the times. 

While the farmer has adopted the new things in 
farming, he has been quite content to move along the 
old lines with reference to his Church and his school. 
Whatever has come to him of the new civilization has 
been forced upon him from the outside, rather than 
developed within him by natural processes at work 
in his own community. He neglects the new adorn- 
ments and equipments because he has not been edu- 
cated to appreciate them. The farmer buys a piano 
at the solicitation of an agent, but may have little 
musical taste or appreciation. For this reason we 
find many musical instruments in rural homes, but 
few players; books with few readers; pictures and 
other home decorations, with little knowledge or ap- 
preciation of art. 

64 



OPPORTUNITIES AND POSSIBILITIES 

Life on the farm has changed as elsewhere. There 
is a different kind of social life needed now in the 
country from what our fathers had. There are many 
new needs and demands. The Church, to minister 
to these new conditions, should adopt suitable meth- 
ods. But in a multitude of instances the old methods 
are still in use, and these are not successful. There 
is a new type of country Church needed now. The 
country Church must adjust itself to modern con- 
ditions. 

Summary of Opportunities. — While the many op- 
portunities of the country Church have by no means 
been exhausted, the chief ones have been briefly con- 
sidered, and these are: co-operation with the other 
social institutions of the open country, the champion- 
ing of rural life, mediatorship in rural business and 
industrial evolution, and readjustment to the new 
regime in rural affairs, to say nothing of the oppor- 
tunities for rural evangelization, which is fully dis- 
cussed in Chapter X. 

3. The Possibilities of the Country Church 

Turning now to the third part of my subject, I 
would write hopefully and enthusiastically. I am not 
among those who attach little importance to the 
Church of the country folk, or who believe it has 
outlived its usefulness. 

The first step towards showing and realizing the 
possibilities of the rural Church is to get a vision of 
the country life of to-day, and of what is to be done 
for the country people. 

5 65 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

There is something vastly more needed than to 
hold a preaching service once a week, or once a 
month, as in some cases, and to conduct a Sunday 
school. Thousands of rural Churches have failed in 
recent years under such a program, good as it might 
seem. There was a time when a single program of 
preaching sufficed. Not even a Sunday school was 
needed. Life in the country was simple in those 
early days. Knowledge of people and things had not 
expanded. My mother has often told me that read- 
ing, writing, and spelling were all the branches taught 
in the country school when she was a girl. But some 
people feel now that they can hardly afford to buy 
all the text-books which our children are expected to 
study in school. Knowledge has increased. For- 
merly, the country parson, teacher, and doctor were 
the only educated persons in the community; but it 
is not so now. The farmers have the daily news- 
papers, books, and magazines; and many of them are 
high-school and college graduates, and these are rap- 
idly increasing. 

The Rise of New Conditions in Country Life. — The 
social life of the country in earlier days was so simple 
that it flowed on almost automatically. The neigh- 
borhood gatherings were spontaneous, and centered 
in the good old-fashioned "huskin'-bees," "apple- 
peelin's," and such like. The very work itself was so 
adjusted as to afford much sociability. Now, how- 
ever, a lot of new social forces have appeared that 
must be reckoned with. 

Again, the country people have much more money 
66 



OPPORTUNITIES AND POSSIBILITIES 

to spend than they used to have in the pioneer days. 
The land has been cleared, or drained, or irrigated. 
Orchards have been planted and roads made. Per- 
manent buildings have been erected, and mortgages 
paid off. Telephone systems and rural mail routes 
have been established. The preliminary work inci- 
dent to the settling of a new country has been done. 
The farmer is ready for new tasks. The rapid in- 
crease of population has put far greater demands upon 
agriculture as a business. Agriculture has become a 
science, which calls for a new education of those who 
till the soil, a new type of educators, a new literature, 
and new legislation. 

Many discoveries have been made in recent years 
concerning man's living conditions. The laws of 
hygiene and sanitation did not much concern our 
forefathers. Many lives were lost on the farm from 
typhoid fever and other diseases before the dangers 
arising from a polluted water supply and contamina- 
tion from other sources had been discovered. Rural 
sanitation and nursing are to play a large part in the 
new rural life. 

The Dream and Then the Dawn. — The farmer has 
only begun to dream of a beautiful, comfortable, con- 
venient home. Architecture and landscape gardening 
have not hitherto been in his program. Mr. Farmer 
has not thought much about installing into his home 
the modern appliances which help to lighten the work 
of the rural housekeeper and home-maker. 

But the dawn of a new country life is at hand. 
In the face of these new rural conditions and achieve- 

67 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

ments, the country Church finds itself confronted 
with new' demands. The possibilities of its usefulness 
lie in meeting the issue now before the country people. 
The Message. — The rural Church must continue to 
preach, as it has done in the past, the gospel of re- 
pentance and salvation through faith in Jesus Christ; 
and then, in addition to this, it should preach the 









*-• * - i!3jr ^ipfctak. 


111 


V 






i! - j : 


Z * " , '•"'■•■ 


■ -' . . - 




* 





A NEW COUNTRY RESIDENCE THAT NEEDS THE SERVICES OF A 
RURAL ARTIST 



gospel of social service in terms of modern rural life. 
It must have a message for the farmer who is robbing 
the soil and leaving it in a depleted condition of fer- 
tility for the generations to come after him. It must 
have a message for the indolent farmer, who does not 
know how to till the soil with profit; or who, through 
bad business methods, is failing, and is having a hard 

68 



OPPORTUNITIES AND POSSIBILITIES 

life and not able properly to support his family and 
the institutions of his community. The rural Church 
must have a message for the prosperous* farmer who 
has more money than he knows how to use most in- 
telligently, who seeks only "to get more money to 
buy more land to raise more corn to feed more hogs 




RESIDENCE OF A FARM TENANT 

The rural Church must have a saving message for both the 
man who lives here and his absentee landlord. 



to get more money." It must have a message for the 
absentee landlord and the retired farmer, whose in- 
terests in the rural community lie no deeper than to 
draw high rents from their lands. It must have a 
message, too, for the farm tenant, who ofttimes works 
and lives under great difficulties and discouragements ; 
for the rural school-teacher, officers, and patrons of 

69 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

the public school; for the grange and other farmers' 
organizations, and for every other agency that has to 
do with rural life, either directly or indirectly. The 
rural Church must have a message for the new rural 
home and the community which surrounds it. It 
must take the progress of the centuries and the best 
in our civilization and focus them upon the country- 
man and his family in such a way that not only a few 
farmers, but the farming people as a class, everywhere, 
may realize the more fruitful and satisfying type of 
rural life, which is possible in this present age, and 
which is due them. So that it may speedily come to 
be said that the industrial, educational, social, recrea- 
tional, religious, cultural, and home advantages and 
facilities are as good for the tillers of the soil as for 
any other class of citizens in the United States of 
America. 

It is possible for the rural Church to give such a 
message to the country people. A faithful interpre- 
tation of the Scriptures in the light of modern rural 
life will supply this gospel of social service to the 
husbandman. 

The Message in Action. — Preaching is one thing; 
doing the Word is another. The Scriptures teach, 
"Be ye not hearers of the Word only, but also doers." 

Every message that comes through the Church 
should be accompanied with an honest effort to put 
that message into practice, whether it be to quit sin 
or to build a decent road to the church or the market. 

The rural Church need not become a bureau of 
politics, but it can inspire good citizenship and pa- 

70 



OPPORTUNITIES AND POSSIBILITIES 

triotism, and give its patrons opportunity to cultivate 
and practice these virtues. The rural Church need 
not become a public school, but it can cultivate the 
spirit of inquiry and research in the community. It 
can put its people in the attitude of learners. It can 
champion the cause of rural education, and do many 
practical things to help the school teacher and the 
school officers. 

" The rural Church need not turn itself into an 
amusement house, but it can do wonders in leading 
its people into wholesome recreations. The rural 
Church is not supposed to teach scientific agriculture, 
but it can pave the way for it by putting the farmers 
in touch with literature on the subject and other 
helps. The rural Church can set before a whole com- 
munity an example of good business and of neat, 
beautiful, and sanitary home surroundings, by con- 
ducting its own business well and by keeping its 
buildings and grounds in first-class condition. The 
rural Church can help the farmer to great co-operative 
systems by being itself the greatest co-operative in- 
stitution in the community — the greatest social 
servant. 

The Church that does practical things for its com- 
munity is the Church that wins its way into the good 
graces and affections of the people. Nothing is for- 
eign to the active, serving rural Church that concerns 
the welfare of the farmer. There is simply no end to 
the possibilities of the wide-awake rural Church. Let 
it study the life of its people, the community, and the 
country itself — its resources, its handicaps, and its 

71 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

possibilities. Let it make a complete survey 1 touch- 
ing every item of rural life, chart and tabulate the 
results, and celebrate victories, achievements, and 
anniversaries. Let the country people "talk up" the 
preacher, the Church officers, the services and min- 
istries of the Church, the public school, and the com- 
munity. We may glorify country life and farm life 
by making it happy, bright, joyous, and profitable. 
Let us exalt the farmer and the business of farming. 
In all phases of rural work we must advertise, adver- 
tise, advertise! 

All these things and many more are possible for 
the country Church. The one thing necessary is 
to set about intelligently and in earnest to realize the 
best things for the country and the country Church 
and people — and it shall be done. 

1 The first essential in the revival of a country Church along scientific lines 
is to make a social survey of the community which the Church serves. A 
social survey is simply taking an inventory of the social stock in a community. 
The Church as a human organization is a social institution. It is dependent 
upon the people of its vicinity, their conditions and relationships. The twen- 
tieth century country Church should know the institutional relationships of 
all the people in its territorial sphere of influence, as well as their prosperity, 
their social status, their religious inclinations, their education, their relative 
abilities as leaders, and their disposition to be led. These facts must first be 
known before intelligent plans of action may be formulated and effectively car- 
ried forward. This survey should be made by the local Church itself; for this 
activity in itself will tend to have a stimulating reaction. 

The best brief directions for making a social survey known to the Editor is 
entitled, "A Method of Making a Social Survey of a Rural Community." The 
author of the pamphlet is Prof. C J. Galpin, and it is published by the Univer- 
sity of Wisconsin, at Madison, as Circular of Information, No. 29, January, 
1912. Persons writing for the same should address the Mailing Department. 

Other excellent and helpful bulletins on survey work are: "The Survey- 
Idea in Country-Life Work," by Dean L. H. Bailey, of Cornell University, 
Ithaca, N. Y.; "A Social Survey for Rural Communities," by George Frederick 
Wells, Tyringham, Mass. (10 cents a copy); and the various reports of surveys 
made in several States by the Presbyterian Department of Church and Coun- 
try Life, 156 Fifth Avenue, New York City. 

72 



CHAPTER IV 
The Centralization of Country Churches 

By Dr. Charles B. Taylor, Mc Arthur, Ohio. 



It has been my lot to spend about forty years 
ministering to the needs of various groups of country 
Churches among the hills of South- 
eastern Ohio. What I have to say 
applies to the conditions which have 
confronted me, increased my bur- 
dens, and hindered the efficiency of 
my work. I thank God for the 
recollections of a long, precious, 
and happy ministry, but can not 
but be saddened a little when I 
think how much more I might 
have accomplished had there been 
a wise centralization of Churches. 

1. Conditions 

The population of the rural districts of South- 
eastern Ohio is steadily decreasing. The county in 
which I reside has lost one-third of its population 
within the past thirty years. Some of the townships 
have scarcely one-half as many inhabitants as they 
had thirty years ago. .Columbus, Dayton, and the 

73 




SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

other manufacturing cities are full of people from 
these hills. They are in the factories, the railroad 
yards, and the stores. Kansas, Oklahoma, and other 
Western States have furnished homes for many 
more. 

A great many of our young people become college 
students. As a rule, when they leave their homes to 
enter college, they leave them never to return except 
as visitors. Very many of them have become min- 
isters and teachers; but their ministry and teaching 
is far away. One family may be used as an illustra- 
tion. It is a large family, whose members take to 
books as a duck takes to water. There are three sons 
and six daughters. Of the sons, one is a minister in 
Missouri, one is a superintendent of schools in a town 
of Western Ohio, and one is an employee of the N ational 
Cash Register Co., at Dayton. Of the daughters, one 
is a wife and mother in Colorado, one is a trained 
nurse in Texas, one is in Dayton, one in West Vir- 
ginia, one is in college, and one teaches the first grade 
in the public schools of" her home town, and is the 
only one of them left among the hills. 

A few years ago, when I sustained official rela- 
tions to the teachers and schools of the county in 
which I live, there were three young women, superb 
teachers, who remained with us until I began to 
flatter myself that we should have the benefit of their 
life-work. They are all gone. One teaches English 
in the high-school of a city in Western Ohio, and the 
omniverous maw of Columbus has gathered in the 
other two, one of whom is a faithful teacher in the 

74 



CENTRALIZATION OF COUNTRY CHURCHES 

city schools and one is the wife of an honored pro- 
fessor in Ohio State University. 

, 2. The Effects 

The effects of this continued emigration upon the 
schools and Churches of this region are deplorable. 
The schools, which used to number forty pupils, now 
have ten or twelve. As for the Churches, let a few 
concrete illustrations present the situation. 

(a) In a certain sparsely-settled community, eight 
miles from any railroad, and the same distance from 
any turnpike, one can stand upon the summit of a 
hill and see three churches, one close by one's side, 
one a half mile to the right, and one across a valley 
on another hill, less than a mile away. One is a 
Methodist Protestant Church, one a United Brethren, 
and one a Free Will Baptist. All the people living 
within range of these three churches are not enough 
to maintain o'ne Church well. Not one of the three 
pays more than $75 annually for the support of a 
pastor. 

A minister who was appointed to serve one of 
these Churches told me about his first service there. 
He rode ten miles over a bad road in the cold weather. 
Arriving at the church, he found a congregation of 
four persons, one of whom was trying to coax a fire 
out of wet fuel and a smoky stove, while the other 
three stood shivering around it. 

(b) In the hamlet of R there are about 

twenty houses and three churches — Disciple, United 
Brethren (Liberal), and United Brethren (Radical). 

75 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

There are enough people in the hamlet and in the 
surrounding community to make one good, hopeful 
Church, if the three could be combined. As it is, 
the little Churches are dying, and the community 
suffers the loss. 

(c) In a number of places in this part of Ohio, 
Methodist Episcopal and Methodist Protestant cir- 
cuits cover the same ground, thus dividing the energy 
of the people and multiplying the labors of the min- 
isters. 

(d) In many places Churches of the same denomi- 
nation are too close together. Some good old man in 
years gone by wanted a church close by his house. 
A young minister, full of zeal and ambition, came to 
the circuit and thought that it would be a fine thing 
to be able to report a new church building on his 
field of work. The good old man and the young min- 
ister got together, and the result is a church on Beech 
Hill, a little more than a mile from the church at 
Pine Fork. 

One Example of an Over-Churched Field. — A good 
example of the general condition of affairs comes 
from the field where I spent the last three years of 
my pastoral work. At the southern extremity of the 

field is the village of T , with about two hundred 

inhabitants. There are four churches in the place — 
Methodist, United Brethren, Presbyterian, and Chris- 
tian. Two miles east is another Methodist Church, 
and a mile and a half north is another United Brethren 
Church. The entire population living within conven- 
ient distance of these six churches is about nine 

76 



CENTRALIZATION OF COUNTRY CHURCHES 

hundred. The aggregate membership of these 
Churches is about two hundred and seventy, or about 
forty-five to each Church. 

Four ministers labored among these Churches, 
their fields extending elsewhere over wide circuits. 

The Methodist Episcopal minister supplied five 
churches. On one Sunday he preached three times 
and rode eighteen miles. On the next Sunday he 
preached twice and rode ten miles. He conducted 
five series of special revival services during the year, 
and did a large amount of pastoral work, visiting the 
sick and burying the dead. His salary was $500 a 
year and a parsonage. 

The United Brethren minister had seven churches 
under his care. He preached at each place once in 
three weeks. During the year he held seven series of 
special services. The churches were widely scat- 
tered. The preacher's salary was $475. With that 
pitiful amount he supported his family, paid house- 
rent, and kept a horse. 

The brother who ministered to the Christian 
Church had four churches under his care. His salary 
was about $480. 

My field consisted of four little Presbyterian 
Churches, extending along a line from north to south. 
On one Sunday I drove twenty-four miles and 
preached twice, and occasionally three times. On 
the next Sunday, I drove eight miles and preached 
twice. The territory under my pastoral care was 
twenty-one miles long and eight miles wide. The 
visitation of the sick and the large number of funerals 

77 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

to which I was called added much to the burdens of 
the work. Like the other brethren, I was expected 
to hold a series of special services at each church. I 
preached about two hundred sermons each year, and 
drove nearly two thousand miles over rough hills and, 
for the most part, red clay roads. The winter trips 
were hard for a man of my- age. My salary was 
$800. 

Four preachers ministered to twenty churches, 
and the work broke down strong men. The other 
three received salaries which were pitifully inade- 
quate. Our congregations were small. The little 
Churches lacked the enthusiasm which comes with 
numbers. And the pity of it was that we covered 
practically the same ground and crossed and re- 
crossed the tracks of each other every day. 

The Benefit of Church Consolidation. — A wise cen- 
tralization could easily reduce these twenty churches 
to ten, while supplying ample church privileges to 
the entire population of that region. If this were 
done, a number of good results would follow. 

The churches would number ninety to a hundred 
members each. Now they number forty-five to fifty. 
There would be ten live, pushing, interesting Sunday 
schools, instead of twenty feeble, struggling organi- 
zations. The neighborhoods, now divided in their 
interests, would each have a central rallying point in 
both religious and social affairs. One minister could 
be released to labor elsewhere. Two of the remain- 
ing three would care for three churches each, and the 
third would have four. These fields would be far 

78 



CENTRALIZATION OF COUNTRY CHURCHES 

more easily cared for than the present charges. The 
salaries now paid to the four men would make living 
salaries for the three. There would be a freshening 
and quickening of the religious life of the whole re- 
gion, and we feel sure that the great Head of the 
Church would be pleased, and would give His rich 
blessing. 

These are the conditions in this region, and, to 
some extent, they represent the conditions among 
country Churches generally. 

3. Difficulties in the Way of Centralization 

It is easy to take a map of a community and 
mark out with one's pencil just how the churches 
should be centralized. But when one goes on a field 
and tries to centralize churches, he soon finds that he 
is not dealing with a map, but with people. Let us 
frankly face the difficulties. 

First. Difficulties arising from local attachment. 
For example, one who has not labored in such fields 
can not realize how centralization is made difficult 
by the fact that very many of our country churches 
stand in one corner of "God's Acre," the little country 
cemetery where the friends and relatives are buried. 
In the summer season, when the flowers are bloom- 
ing, the people assemble early, and before they enter 
the church they visit the graves and decorate them 
with fragrant and beautiful flowers. 

One can not but sympathize with these people. 
When we talk of centralization, one good woman 
says, "O, if we should leave our church, they would 

79 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

let the graveyard go down. One old man says, "I 
have worshiped in that little church all my life. 
There I sat by mother's side; out there in the yard 
she sleeps. There lie my two children and my sister, 
and there they will lay me to rest. I can't think of 
giving up our church to go elsewhere." 




IN ONE CORNER OF GOD'S ACRE 



This is perhaps the strongest of the considera- 
tions, local and sentimental, which stands in the way 
of centralization. 

Second. An exaggerated idea of the differences 
between denominations stands as a barrier in our 
way. 

Really, in all the great essentials of faith and 
practice, the denominations which occupy the ter- 
ritory above described are on common grounds. The 
things in which they agree are great and many. The 

80 



CENTRALIZATION OF COUNTRY CHURCHES 

things in which they differ are few and small. They 
all preach repentance toward God and faith toward 
our Lord Jesus Christ. They all urge prayer, upright- 
ness, love of God and love of one's neighbor. While 
I love the Presbyterian Church and feel most at home 
within her borders, I could very easily be a Congre- 
gationalist or Methodist, without violence to my con- 
victions of truth, and with hearty, earnest fellowship 
with my brethren. 

Third. The greatest difficulty is from the eccle- 
siastical powers higher up — the Conferences, Synods, 
Associations, and superintendents, whose vision seems 
to be bounded by the work in their own denomina- 
tions, and who push with impetuous zeal the interests 
of "our Church," as if that were the whole Kingdom 
of our Lord and Savior. On reading the above state- 
ment, I realize that it is too strong, but I let it stand 
as illustrating a tendency. 

4. What Shall We Do about It? 

First. The first thing to do is to get the Church 
at large awake to the need of the centralization of 
the country Churches. The present condition of 
these Churches is a woeful waste of the Lord's money, 
the labors of His ministers, and the energies of His 
people. It is a detriment to the spiritual life of 
country communities and a hindrance to the up- 
building of the Kingdom of God in the souls of men. 
It is a burning shame and a sin against God. When- 
ever the Church is really awake to these truths, we 
will find a way to centralize. 
6 81 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

Second. Let the ministers on these fields empha- 
size the great truths in which the Churches agree. 
Let them preach to their people the pressing need of 
union. Let them urge the people to worship together, 
and hold social reunions. Hold a picnic at Pine Fork 
for the people of Pine Fork and Beech Hill. Get the 
young people to intermingle. When the hearts of 
the people flow together, the union of two Churches 
is not difficult. 

Third. God hasten the day when denominations 
whose faith and methods are practically the same 
shall be united in one. To some extent this has been 
done. Forty-three years ago, when I began my 
ministry, the Presbyterians of Washington and Athens 
Counties were divided among four denominations — 
Old School, New School, United, and Cumberland. 
They have now all come together here, and the good 
results are apparent. Similar unions should take 
place elsewhere, only on a much broader scale. There 
is no longer any adequate reason for the existence of 
the Methodist Protestant Church separate from the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. Surely, there is no 
adequate reason for the continued existence of the 
two United Brethren denominations. If two or three 
unions would take place along these lines, it would 
help wonderfully in solving the country Church 
problem. 

Fourth. But the great thing to do is for the dif- 
ferent denominations interested to get together with 
a determined purpose to centralize the country 
Churches by a fair system of exchange. "A fair ex- 

82 



CENTRALIZATION OF COUNTRY CHURCHES 

change is no robbery." Let a committee be ap- 
pointed, one from each denomination represented in 
the field, and let this committee look over the field 
carefully and prayerfully, and decide what should be 
done. For example, suppose there is a Methodist 
Church and also a Presbyterian Church on Clay Run. 
The Methodist Church numbers sixty members and 
the Presbyterian Church thirty. Meanwhile, over on 
Sugar Fork there is a Presbyterian Church of sixty 
members and a Methodist Church with thirty. The 
right thing to do is for the Presbyterians on Clay 
Run to go to the Methodists, and for the Methodists 
on Sugar Fork to go to the Presbyterians. Let the 
committee visit these fields and hold meetings with 
the people, and get them together. 

We stand ready for helpful suggestions from any 
source. We are ready for any practical and prac- 
ticable method. But let us make up our minds 
that, for the sake of our Lord and His Kingdom, 
the centralization of these Churches must and shall 
be accomplished. If we really mean to do it, we will 
find the way. 

It is very interesting and encouraging to see the 
efforts that the various Church denominations are 
making to secure the centralization or consolidation 
of the weaker Churches in rural districts. The need 
is becoming so insistent that a real earnestness is 
beginning to take hold of bodies that are from time 
to time delegated to consider this subject. As Dr. 
Taylor suggests, the Church organizations, through 

83 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

their higher officials, must not only encourage the 
movement, but must take definite action to accom- 
plish desirable results. If the various Church bodies 
continue to neglect this plain and pressing duty, the 
people themselves may be expected to take the in- 
itiative — with varying results. 

There are several practical ways for realizing the 
centralization or consolidation- of Churches. A brief 
consideration of the most important methods may 
prove helpful to many rural communities that are 
looking for ways and means out of their distress. 
Until the various denominations do begin earnest, 
aggressive, and effective action for the relief of over- 
churched rural communities, these plans may prove 
suggestive. 

1. Union under a Denomination 

The Churches of different denominations in a 
community may, by the voluntary agreement of the 
people, be consolidated into one Church under one 
denomination. The denomination may be the same 
as one of the several Churches centralized, or a de- 
nomination different from any of them. This method 
has been recently (in 1913) effected in the union of 
the three Churches in the village of Dublin, Ohio. 
There were three Churches there — a Presbyterian, a 
Congregational, and a Christian. During the summer 
of 1912 a cyclone swept away the buildings of the 
first two (Churches mentioned. The Disciples 
promptly offered their church edifice to the two or- 
ganizations made homeless. The offer was accepted, 

84 



CENTRALIZATION OF COUNTRY CHURCHES 

but it soon became apparent that a union of all three 
congregations was highly advisable and desirable. 
After due consideration, a union was effected, and 
the new, consolidated Church became a member of 
the Congregational denomination, and is now using 
the former Christian Church building. 




THE NEW UNION CHURCH AT LINDENWOOD, ILLINOIS 
It was dedicated in 1909 



2. Union under No Denomination 

A union- Church of no particular denomination 
may be formed. In 1868, at Lindenwood, Illinois, the 
six denominations of Wesleyan Methodists, Methodist 
Episcopal, Episcopal, Christian, Baptists, and Seventh 
Day Adventists formally united to form the Union 
Church of Lindenwood. "The organization consisted 
simply of the election of two deacons and a committee 

85 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

of three to engage a pastor or supply for the pulpit, 
and a written agreement to take the Holy Scriptures as 
the only rule of faith and practice, and Christian char- 
acter the test of fellowship." This simple organiza- 
tion has stood the test for forty-five years, and is still 
used, although several other denominations have 
contributed toward the membership of this Church. 
Ministers have been drawn from various denomina- 
tions, the last three being Congregationalists. The 
plan seems to be working admirably. 

3. Federation of Denominations 

Churches of different denominations may federate 
locally. At Chesterland, Ohio, the Baptists and Con- 
gregationalists, being unable to unite as one Church, 
have formed a very close local federation. One of 
the church buildings was repaired for the use of both 
congregations, and both united in calling a minister 
to serve both. It happened to be the Congregational 
Church building that was repaired, and a Baptist 
minister that was called. Both congregations worship 
in the same church building, and both are being 
served by the same pastor and attend the same serv- 
ices. Each organization assumed its fair share of 
the local Church support, the board of trustees of 
each being responsible for the finances of their re- 
spective organizations. Each organization supports 
the benevolences of its own denomination. New 
members are received into either organization ac- 
cording to their individual preference. The arrange- 
ment has been in operation for over a year, and seems 

86 



CENTRALIZATION OF COUNTRY CHURCHES 

to be working very satisfactorily. No friction has 
arisen, and the religious work of the community has 
been strengthened. 

4. Interdenominational Church Trades 

An exchange of churches located in different com- 
munities may be made among the various denomina- 
tions. Dr. Taylor has fully explained this method on 
page S3. If the various denominations would heartily 
co-operate, much might be done to relieve the situa- 
tion by this plan. If the powers "higher up" in the 
ieading denominations would appoint an interde- 
nominational rural church commission in each State 
to carry forward this work actively and energetically 
for a period of about five years, they would likely 
have enough to keep them busy, and no better service 
could be rendered the Christian people in rural com- 
munities. 

The New Organizations Evil 

In the meantime, the various denominational 
Church organizations, as well as the people them- 
selves, should see to it that no new Church societies 
are organized in rural communities already adequately 
provided with Church privileges. In the past it has 
been a great deal easier for a young and over-energetic 
minister to organize a new congregation of his de- 
nomination in a rural community in the neighborhood 
of the congregations of other denominations than it 
has been for the people so organized decently to 
support the new organization. The great need of 
the Kingdom of Christ in rural communities to-day 

87 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

is the concentration of the wealth, the effort, the 
membership, and the worship of its citizenship. 

Caution 

There is a strength in denominationalism — in the 
association of a large number of local societies into 
a great Christian organization for the purpose of co- 
operation in the formation and realization of definite 
religious policies, in the development of permanent 
and efficient leadership, and the distribution of op- 
portunities and responsibilities for rendering Christian 
service. The inroads of evil are always made at the 
weakest point; and certainly no rural Church fortifies 
itself when it cuts loose from the strength that comes 
with comprehensive plans and well-organized efforts 
under the foremost Church leadership. Church 
leaders must be specialists in religion, not in agri- 
culture. When the local spiritual and moral leader 
is forced to depend wholly upon the congregation he 
serves, financially and socially, and thereby forced to 
conform to its sentiments in moral, religious, and 
spiritual matters, we may well question the plan rec- 
ommended under the second division above. 

An example is cited at Ogden, Kansas. The 
sensible people of this village decided to unite for 
religious worship, and so built a union church. Every- 
body worked enthusiastically in building the edifice. 
The beautiful stone structure was finally dedicated — 
and then the weaknesses of the plan began to assert 
themselves. Who should be the minister? Should 
he be a Methodist, a Congregationalist, a Presby- 



CENTRALIZATION OF COUNTRY CHURCHES 

terian, or a Baptist? Well, no agreement was reached, 
and the new church stands to-day unused, while men, 
women, and children are deprived of religious train- 
ing and Church life. There can be no garden without 
a gardener. In an attempt to be undenominational, 




This attractive and modern church building was erected by 
the Christian people living in the vicinity of the country village 
of Ogden, Kansas. Four different denominations participated 
at its dedication. Its ruling body is undenominational. The 
Christian service being rendered is nil. 

this local Church society forfeited those elements so 
necessary to a vigorous and continuous religious 
activity. 

References 

For the benefit of those who may wish further to 
investigate this subject, we append the following ad- 

89 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

ditional instances of successful centralization of 
Church interests: 

Greenwood Union Church, Greenwood, Mass. 

Federated Church, Tyringham, Mass., Rev. Geo. 
Frederick Wells, Pastor. 

Union Church, Concord Junction, Mass., Rev. 
S. N. Adams, Pastor. 

Memorial Union Church, Springfield, Mass., Rev. 
E. P. Berry, Pastor. 

Union Church, Ridgefield Park, N. J. 

Union Church, Proctor, Vt., F. W. Raymond, 
Pastor. 

Alma, Mo. 

Bernardston, Mass. 

Somerset, Mass. 



90 



CHAPTER V 

Efficiency and Leadership 

By Rev. N. W. Stroup, D. D., 

District Superintendent, Cleveland District, Methodist Episcopal 
Church, Cleveland. 

1. The Nature of Leadership 

Leadership is another word for genius. Efficiency 
stands for business in religion as well as religion in 
business. The few lead and the 
many follow. Men go astray like 
sheep, and come back very much in 
the same way, i. e., they follow a 
leader. The descent of vice is easier 
and more rapid than the ascent of 
virtue. We may drift into disease 
and sin, but we must will and work 
our way back into moral health and 
Tightness. The latter calls for per- 

DR. STROUP i • . • j . - 

sonal conviction and conquest in 
preparing the way and walking therein. Emerson's 
14 Representative Men " and Carlyle's "Heroes " have 
attracted the attention of the world, because they 
were pre-eminently the leaders of their era. The 
world has had its adventurers, its leaders in coloniza- 
tion, its philosophers, and its great generals; but this 

91 




SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

new century is to be the time of bloodless battles, 
and our leaders are to be moral and spiritual heroes. 
The Prince of Peace is to be our great Captain, and 
men are to catch His spirit of courage and self-denial. 
"The demand for a few strong men" says John R. 
Mott, "is even more imperative than more men" 
The times demand individuals who not only have the 
prophet's vision, but who possess the power to in- 
spire and lead others to do the task. 

The prophet of God is the moral general who 
commands the latent forces of his audience or com- 
munity. His message is a call to ministry, and in 
that sense each leader may be a Grant or a Sherman 
in the war against sin. The response to the call will 
depend upon the authority of the messenger. It was 
said of Jesus that He spoke with authority, and not 
as the scribes and Pharisees. Luther received his 
commission direct from God, and then went forth to 
command the men of Germany to fight for" religious 
freedom and personal purity. It could have been 
said of John Knox, as it was of Napoleon, that his 
presence was equal to ten thousand men on the field 
of battle. His word was a command to all Scotland, 
and it even compelled the attention of kings and 
queens. John Wesley, like John the Baptist, was 
sent to prepare the way of the Lord, and to call Eng- 
land out of her spiritual sleep and moral lethargy, to 
take up again the redemption of a race. 

The leaders of the present hour are not only the 
watchmen on the walls of our modern Zions, but they 
are the divinely commissioned commanders of the 

92 



EFFICIENCY AND LEADERSHIP 

economic, political, social, and moral forces of our 
twentieth century civilization. Then we should not 
forget that in the very forefront of the. advancing 
armies must be found the spiritual leaders. It is our 
privilege to call men to battle for virtue and against 
vice, for knowledge and against ignorance, for temper- 
ance and against drunkenness, for faith and against 
doubt, and for love and against hate. "The word of 
command," says Mr. Roosevelt, "is useless in the 
fight unless a reasonable number of those to whom it 
is uttered not only listen but act upon it. Talk — 
mere oratory — is worse than useless if it has not a 
worthy object, and does not cause men to actually 
put in practice the message received." 

The new patriotism must be interpreted in the 
terms of Christian conquest. The call for volunteers 
must be recognized as the call of the Christ. The 
Church, in city and country, will be the institution 
through which the modern patriot will find expression 
of the higher sacrifice of victorious conquest. "The 
moral substitute for war," that Professor James de- 
clared was the need of the hour, will be realized in 
the army of Christian soldiers to be found in every 
community. The number of private soldiers who 
fight in the ranks may vary from year to year, 
but there must ever be a sufficient number of valiant 
leaders to command the regiments and to organize 
new recruits. 

2. Rural Leadership 

The rural communities call for a special type of 
leadership. We need men who appreciate the great- 

93 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

ness of the field, and who will be able to discover and 
train those who are waiting for some one to command 
them. An institute lecturer recently declared that 
in a certain community where it was commonly 
thought that no young people remained, the right 
call brought forty young men, all ready for service, 
and only waiting for some one to redirect their rest- 
less energy. We must not fail to utilize this latent 
leadership, since, as Mr. Mott says, "The cities 
themselves need help, and can not be relied upon to 
furnish the Christian leaders of the future." It is a 
common statement in rural communities that " there 
are no leaders." Some explain by saying that the 
best young people have for many years been moving 
into the cities. Others assert that "the people in 
this section do not tolerate any boss." Democracy 
is made synonymous with individualism. They have 
a mistaken conception of leadership and an equally 
false notion of co-operation. Dr. Hale stated a few 
years ago that "together is the twentieth century 
word." This is one essential of efficient leadership. 
There must be more federation and less competition, 
more brotherhood and less hate. In the interest of 
economy, as well as comity, we must stand together. 
The strength of an army is accounted for, not by the 
character of the individual soldier, but by the united 
loyalty to the commander-in-chief. 

The editor of a rural magazine, in a request for 
an article on "The Country Church," stated that 
while they were anxious to present to their readers 
things that had actually been accomplished, and were 

94 



EFFICIENCY AND LEADERSHIP 

being done, in terms of real experience, they did not 
have any use for general discussions or speculative 
theories of what must or must not be done. The rural 
Churches have for many years been the victims of 
remarks and resolutions. They have been given 
"absent treatment," which may be very interesting 
for the practitioner, but apt to prove fatal for the 
patient. The rural ministers agree with the editor 
and say, "Let us have something real and practical 
that will supply our actual necessities and aid in the 
solution of our problems." 

The writer was reared in the country, and saved 
at the altar of a village church, but two years ago 
was brought face to face with conditions that spoke 
of religious stagnation and disease, of discouragement 
and defeat, and of many problems and vital needs. 
The Churches were decreasing in membership and 
diminishing in efficiency. The pastors were inade- 
quately and irregularly paid. The term of service 
was short, and there was a very evident lack of plan 
and purpose in the work of those who had been se- 
lected to lead. Buildings were out of date, and very 
deficient in their adaptation to modern conditions. 
There was no clear vision, and a sad lack of efficient 
leadership. 

3. A Country Church Commission and Its Work 

A brief consideration of the work of the Country 
Church Commission of the Cleveland District, East 
Ohio Conference, will not be amiss here. 1 The 

1 For more complete information of the work of this commission and a list 
of its publications address the author of this chapter. 

95 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

pastors and leading laymen of the various charges 
were called together in group meetings, and rural 
conditions were freely discussed and thoughtfully 
studied. Each Church was considered with respect 
to its local environment, and its relation to the com- 
munity of which it was a part. The organization of 
"The Country Church Commission" was a very 
logical outgrowth of the attempt to better conditions 
and encourage the discouraged leaders. The Com- 
mission is composed of five prominent laymen and 
three pastors, all of whom possess the spirit of the 
Country Life Movement. This action proved the 
beginning of many good things. Earnest thought and 
honest endeavor are the good soil out of which is 
certain to come wise means and methods of ministry. 
The work of the Commission had to do mainly with 
better salaries for the pastors, better buildings through 
which to do the work, better methods and means, and 
a new vision of social service and community -building. 
The work of the Commission was also to be educa- 
tional, inspirational, and supplemental. The men in 
the field upon whom fell the heavier portion of the 
burden needed just this sort of assistance. It would 
tide the pastors over many hard places, and put new 
life into many languid laymen. Churches that had 
stood for two generations were to be rebuilt and re- 
adapted. The young people were to be provided with 
social rooms and suitable entertainment. The men 
and women outside of the Church were to be inter- 
ested and enlisted in a campaign of community- 
building. The children of all the families must find 

96 



EFFICIENCY AND LEADERSHIP 

in the Sunday school a center for training in the 
Christian principles of right living. This was to be 
done by well- trained teachers, using the latest ap- 
proved methods of instruction. 

4. Pastoral Leadership 

In one charge, where a church had remained un- 
altered for almost three-quarters of a century, a new 
pastoral leader came. The auditorium was refinished, 
and attractive social rooms were arranged in the 
basement. With this new equipment, the young 
people were gathered together for social evenings to 
the number of one hundred. A Men's League of 
fifty members was organized, and they now have 
regular monthly suppers and socials. For years the 
dance-hall had held the young people, largely because 
the Church had failed to provide a place for them. 
A generation ago there was no place in the church for 
the boy and the girl. 

Churches that had been closed on week nights 
were opened, and thus they helped fill empty churches 
on Sundays. Young people who are locked out of 
churches during six days each week are not apt to 
fill our churches on Sunday. One pastor secured the 
consent of his Official Board to use the basement for 
a boys' club-room. This was the first practical plan 
for saving the boys of that village. The pastor spent 
much time with the young men, and a point of con- 
tact was made with the un-churched portion of the 
community. Fathers who had never attended church 
occupied a pew on Sunday, and freely gave their 
7 97 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

money to aid the man who was ministering to their 
sons; so that the solution of the boy problem helped to 
solve the man problem. The Master Himself declared 
that "He came not to be ministered unto, but to 
minister;" and this wise pastor sought to put the 
emphasis where Jesus had placed it, and then trusted 
Him for results. The emphasis was transferred from 
saving the Church to that larger appeal of saving the 
community. The village church was no longer a one- 
day affair, where people sang about the " Sweet by 
and by." Religion became a natural part of the 
every-day life of the people, and honest business on 
Monday was made to square with an honest gospel 
on Sunday. Clean athletics were linked up with a 
clear conscience. The pastor demonstrated the fact 
that Christianity has to do with the whole man — 
mind, body, and spirit — and that in a very real sense 
these three are one. 

The question of Sunday baseball was decided not 
by vote of the village council, but by the Christian 
conviction of the young men on the ball team, who 
for ten months had been attending the "Sky Pilot's" 
night school. The Sabbath desecrating element of the 
village awoke to find that the young preacher reaped 
a splendid harvest as a result of his faithful sowing. 
While the enemy slept, he had sown good seed and, 
in strict accord with divine law, reaped a good harvest. 

Another pastor won back a lost community by 
the force of personal leadership. He became a "social 
engineer," and mapped out his program as carefully 
as Cecil Rhodes did his policy of continent recon- 

.98 



EFFICIENCY AND LEADERSHIP 

struction. He made it broad enough to appeal to 
the entire community, and sufficiently practical to 
enlist the best brains of the village. Realizing that 
to know the field was the first essential in any ad- 
vance movement, a careful survey of two townships 
was made, and a house-to-house census taken. The 
study was made to include social, economic, and edu- 
cational features, as well as the moral and religious. 
With this information secured, the next step was to 
inform the people of the facts, many of which were 
new and startling, even to the oldest inhabitants; 
and then to arouse them to action in seeking to meet 
the needs as they had been revealed. 

The pastor considered himself a community- 
builder, and that has to do with schools and homes, 
as well as Churches. He found his program must 
include clean athletics, under Christian leadership; 
good roads, better sanitation, and economic co-oper- 
ation in buying and selling. Team-work among the 
boys when playing baseball, and team-work among 
the farmers in their daily tasks and problems. The 
foreigner must be reached, and this added another 
item to his program. Community gatherings must 
be encouraged, and new community ideals must be 
kept before the minds of young and old. The Church, 
instead of being open one hour of one day a week, 
was now open several evenings each week; lectures, 
entertainments, and sociables were made contribu- 
tory to the one supreme purpose of the Master, who 
came to seek and to save the lost. 

The result was that the Church came to occupy 
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SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

its rightful place as a religious and social center. The 
old building was repaired and repainted. The yard 
was kept clean and neat. The horse-sheds were re- 
built, and everybody was happy over the miracle 
that had been wrought by an earnest application of 
common-sense methods. The few faithful saints who 
were trying to hold the fort had long feared that the 
end was near. They only dared to hope that it might 
not come during their day. The farms had changed 
owners, and many persons with a foreign accent were 
now living on the old homesteads, where for genera- 
tions father and son had lived and labored and died. 
The new pastor took an inventory and came to the 
decision that the Christian thing to do was not to 
retreat, but to retrench and reinforce. Acting upon 
this conviction, he went out after the Bohemians, 
Finns, and Russians, and said, "We want you and 
your children to come to our church and Bible school." 
Out of two Greek Catholic families he added six new 
scholars to the Sunday school. These children are 
seldom absent, and always bring their offering for 
both services. Our churches are to serve the people 
— all the people — all the time. They are the com- 
munity's servants, and not for any one class or na- 
tionality. We may adapt them to modern condi- 
tions, but we dare not allow them to be closed. 

In line with the Forward Movement in rural 
Church work, one pastor led his people in the con- 
struction of a sidewalk from the electric railway sta- 
tion to the center of the village, and the placing of a 
few street-lamps to guide the travelers who often 

100 



EFFICIENCY AND LEADERSHIP 

travel without lanterns and rubber boots. This 
caused the " unregenerate " to speak a good word 
instead of a bad one for the Methodists, when in the 
spring of the year they were able to walk on the top 
of the ground. The gravel on the sidewalk during 
week days helped to put "sand" into the sermon on 
the Sabbath. 

The rural young people in some communities 
were unable to secure good books, owing to the fact 
that the village had no library. A little investiga- 
tion opened a way by which the Church could aid in 
supplying this need. On invitation, the State organ- 
izer of libraries came and looked over the field, and 
replied that loan libraries of two hundred volumes 
would be furnished for the people, and the only ex- 
pense would be the cost of transportation to and from 
the State Library. These books could be used from 
three to six months and then exchanged for others. 
This plan has already been put into operation in 
several villages and rural centers, and is proving to 
be one of many practical ways by which the pastor 
may be of real service as a community leader, sup- 
plementing the prescribed program of Church work. 

5. The Greatest Need — Co-operation 

The pride and at the same time the peril of the 
farmer is his independence. His environment and 
his occupation make co-operation all but impossible. 
While the nation is indebted to rural life for the pro- 
duction of moral stability and individual conviction, 
the farmer has not been able to cope commercially 

101 



SOLVINCx THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

with city combines and municipal middlemen, who 
have robbed him of millions of dollars annually. The 
producers of the world's food must get together, and as 
a means to that end the country Church must be a 
sort of John the Baptist to prepare the way. Rural 
co-operation must be built on rural confidence, and the 
latter goes back to the bed-rock of Christian brother- 
hood. The Grange and other social agencies have 
done good work, but they have not and can not do the 
thing that is most needed without the assistance of 
the country Church, which holds the key to the so- 
lution of the problem, and must be one of the chief 
agencies in the Country Life Movement of America. 

6. Three Great Rural Leaders 

The results brought about in Denmark by the 

good Bishop Grundtvig in behalf of the rural people 

of his own nation constitute one of 

jm Rk the most commendable examples of 

£m mL consecrated leadership in recent 

jR ^ years. He brooded over the condi- 

fip»£j| ) tions until his whole being was 

^^^J stirred ; then with ' ' prophetic sense 

'^L ^jfl W he saw that, if salvation was to 

wE W come, it must be brought about 

^Bfl ^r from within, through the enlighten- 

^^ ^^ ment of all the people, and that the 

bishop grundtvig individual must be educated to be 

more virtuous, more intelligent, more skillful, and more 
industrious, and to have a true patriotism for the re- 
viving of the soiritual life of the masses." Though 

102 



EFFICIENCY AND LEADERSHIP 

his work began with the economic and intellectual 
phases of life, it culminated in the moral and spiritual 
life. 

Another noted leader worthy of our careful study 

was Charles Kingsley, who for thirty-three years was 

.^ — ~^ the pastor of the country parish of 

||k Eversley. He possessed a unique 

H» personality, and was a man of mag- 

l ^Kmt^' nificent parts; the one among the 



jjl^jL 



many who was willing to trust God 
that his talents could be well in- 
f vested in the work of a country 
village. He was as gentle as a 
woman, and yet heroic. He was 
sympathetic, and yet stalwart. He 
charles kingsley was poet i c> ' an d yet practical. He 
possessed humility without being either weak or pas- 
sive. He was tender and sensitive to others' wrongs, 
but forgetful of himself and his own suffering. He 
was aggressive in action, and yet temperate in spirit. 
He was morally fearless, and spiritually heroic. 
Kingsley was a model pastor and a masterful preacher. 
He visited the people night and day, until he knew 
every man, woman, and child by name, and, better 
still, he knew their inmost needs. Without regard to 
class or culture, he "went about, doing good." "If 
man or woman were suffering or dying, he would 
go to them five or six times a day — and night as well 
as day — for his own heart's sake, as well as for their 
soul's sake." "What is the use," he says, "of talking 
to a lot of hungry paupers about heaven?" He be- 

103 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

lieved that they must first be fed and made to feel 
some degree of satisfaction with their earthly lot. 
He was a believer in saving the whole man. Our 
present-day social theories were matters of every-day 
practice with him in his work at Eversley. He was 
a community-builder. He was, above all, a spiritual 
leader. 

Every rural pastor and layman ought to study 
the life of John Frederick Oberlin, another great 
leader who was more than a century 
in advance of his generation. The 
story is as inspiring as it is suggest- 
ive to the Christian leaders of this 
present century. He was the eight- 
eenth century prophet of a new era 
in the country Church. What he 
taught, as well as the things he 
wrought out in deeds, give him high 
rank in the annals of missionary 
oberlin heroism. 

The breadth of his program, the sanity of his 
preaching, and the courageous patience displayed in 
dealing with the inhabitants of a "wild, rough, and 
barren" country provides an adequate conception 
of a rural pastor who possessed both vision and 
valor. He belonged to those whom the apostle 
described as a peculiar people, zealous of good 
works. He was a scholar in the best sense of 
that term, without any taint of pedantry. He 
was a genius, with the practical adaptation of a 
business expert. 

104 




EFFICIENCY AND LEADERSHIP 

Nothing human was foreign to this prophet of 
God in his work as a Christian minister. He always 
kept the spiritual welfare of his people supreme, while 
at the same time he labored to transform environ- 
ment so as to enrich the social, industrial, and eco- 
nomic life of each family. Everything was done with 
a religious motive, and thus he sought to spiritualize 
the total life of the community. He has been one of 
our leaders for more than a century, but only within 
recent years have educational authorities seen the 
wisdom of making agriculture a part of the curric- 
ulum of our rural schools. 

The village of Waldbach and its environs was to 
him a divinely selected parish. He felt commissioned 
of Christ to spend and be spent for this people. The 
call was not merely to evangelize, but to Christianize 
the people and the entire social order of which they 
were a vital part. He did not think it sufficient to 
merely preach to them on Sundays and leave them 
in ignorance. They must be educated, and as their 
chosen leader, he would supply that need. They 
were without knowledge as to farming, and conse- 
quently they were poor and unhappy. He would or- 
ganize an agricultural society, and enlighten them as 
to soils, fertilizers, proper seeds, and have them use 
care in adaptation of vegetables and cereals to par- 
ticular kinds of land. This necessitated sending to 
other countries for choice seeds and plants, and the 
replacing of their crude farm implements with modern 
ones, that he ordered from Strasburg. They were 
shut off from civilization and needed good roads, and 

105 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

this need he was able to supply as a part of his social 
program. 

What a great work a large man can do in a small 
field, if he will but follow in the steps of "Him who 
went about doing good!" He never narrowed his 
work, and did not believe that the "human soul 
could be adequately considered apart from its food, 
its home, its work, and its wages." It has taken the 
Church a long time to appreciate the wisdom of such 
leadership, but we see the dawn of a new era in the 
work of the rural Church. 

What was accomplished through the labors of 
these men is a splendid justification of our plea for 
trained leadership in behalf of the millions who live 
outside our great cities. 

7. The Call of the Rural Church 

The country Church is the one institution that 
has done and can do most to enrich individual char- 
acter, make homes happier, and daily toil more at- 
tractive and gainful. Other societies may supple- 
ment, but none can replace the work of the Christian 
Church. As its steeple towers above every other 
building in hamlet and village, so its ideals, its inspi- 
ration, its message and ministry to men, its hopes 
and helps are pre-eminent. This presents a need, a 
duty, a call, and an opportunity rich in possibilities. 
The need is urgent and the call is commanding. We 
would pray the Lord of the harvest to send forth 
leaders who are as practical as they are pure, and as 
productive in ministry as they are progressive in 
method. 

106 



EFFICIENCY AND LEADERSHIP 

GIVE US MEN. 
"Give us men! 
Men from every rank, 
Fresh and free and frank; 
Men of thought and reading, 
Men of light and leading, 
Men of loyal breeding,. 
Men of faith, and not of faction, 
Give us men! I say again, 
Give us men! 

"Give us men! 

Strong and stalwart ones; 
Men whom highest hope inspires, 
Men whom purest honor fires, 
Men who trample self beneath them, 
Men who make their country wreathe them 

As her noble sons, 

Worthy of their sires! 
Men who never shame their mothers, 
Men who never fail their brothers, 
True, however false are others. 

Give us men! I say again, 
Give us men! 

"Give us men! 
Men who, when the tempest gathers, 
Grasp the standard of their fathers 

In the thickest of the fight; 
Men who strike for home and altar 
(Let the coward cringe and falter), 

God defend the right! 
True as truth, though lorn and lonely, 
Tender, as the brave are only; 
Men who tread where saints have trod, 
Men for country and for God. 

Give us men! I say again, again, 
Give us such men!" 

— The Bishop of Exeter. 
107 



CHAPTER VI 

The Education of Ministers for Service 
in Rural Churches 

By George Frederick Wells, B. S., B. D., 

Pastor of the Federated Church of Tyringham, Mass., and Chair- 
man of the Country Church Commission of the Methodist 
Federation for Social Service. 



Introduction. — We hold in mind throughout this 
chapter a single definition of the term "rural." It 
will mean the same as the term 
"country," as applied to pastors, 
Churches, communities, and social 
problems. There are differences be- 
tween the village churches and the 
cross-roads churches in the open 
country, but we can not descend to 
hair-splitting distinctions. We will 
talk about preparing ministers for 
work in all communities which are, 
in general, townships where two 
thousand or fewer people reside, and in which agri- 
cultural or agrarian life dominates. We take the 
same standard as that of the Country Church article 
of the "Cyclopedia of American Agriculture." 1 

1 Bailey, L. H. : "Cyclopedia of American Agriculture," vol. IV, pp. 297- 
303. The Macmillan Company, New York, 1909. 

108 




REV. MR. WELLS 






EDUCATION OF MINISTERS FOR SERVICE 

The reading of this chapter will not produce 
eighty thousand fully-equipped, efficient pastors for 
service in rural churches. Neither will it furnish the 
knowledge, vision, and moral incentive with which a 
corps of teachers, in a special university department, 
might train, even a small number of country pastors. 
It has seemed better to state the outstanding char- 
acteristics of a well-trained rural minister than to 
tabulate in full detail the course of studies which 
should be pursued in gaining them. This chapter, 
therefore, expresses something of an ideal which has 
not been attained. So far as possible, however, the 
methods, as well as the ideal, are presented. 

The importance of such a study as this can not 
be overestimated. There are, in this country alone, 
about eighty thousand rural pastors who need every 
available educational aid. But this is. not all. In 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, for instance, there 
are five hundred district superintendents, nearly every 
one of whom is responsible for some manner of over- 
head leadership or general administration of rural par- 
ishes. There are fully two thousand more men in 
other denominations who have similar responsibil- 
ities, for which special instruction and training is 
urgently desired and demanded. The criticism of our 
colleges and theological seminaries for their failure at 
the point of rural-mindedness is not more intense than 
is the desire of all these schools to meet this great 
need. 

The Scholastic Training of the Rural Minister in 
Outline. — By what training shall a minister be pre- 

109 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

pared for service in rural Churches? Whether his 
gifts incline him to the standards of scholarship or of 
practical efficiency, he should, in common with all 
ministers, have a high-school education, including 
Latin, one or two modern languages, Greek, the 
sciences, mathematics, history, and English; he should 
have a liberal education at college, including eco- 
nomics and sociology, philosophy, the natural sci- 
ences, history, literature, and the modern languages; 
and he should have a theological seminary education, 
including Hebrew and Greek; systematic, practical, 
and historical theology, pedagogy, and religious and 
social institutions, movements, and problems. This, 
in general, should represent the standard for the rural 
as well as for the urban minister. There is no reason 
why we should not have country ministers ranking 
with the great city ministers of our day as national 
leaders. 

Any young man with a clear call to the ministry, 
and with ordinary gifts of personality, common- 
sense, and religious idealism, may supplement this 
native material in such a way as to be reasonably 
sure of success in the rural parish. This supple- 
mentary education may be described under the fol- 
lowing heads: 

1. A standard philosophy of rural improvement. 

2. Catholicity of acquaintance with the rural 
movement. 

3. Rural-mindedness. 

4. An invincible purpose and enthusiasm for 
rural spiritualization. 

110 



EDUCATION OF MINISTERS FOR SERVICE 

1. A Standard Philosophy of Rural Improvement 

The first thing which ministers need to learn as 
a part of their preparation for service in rural Churches 
is a standard philosophy of country life improvement 
from the point of view of the Church. If possible, 
each man should know the ultimate philosophy of 
the question. No one has a perfect philosophy of 
human life in general; much less have we arrived at 
perfection in the discovery of a perfect philosophy of 
rural social improvement. Other things equal, how- 
ever, a minister's success will be according to his 
mastery of the best possible philosophy of his work. 
The fearful limitations of the rural Churches of the 
South are largely due to their limited ideal and 
philosophy of work. Hardly more than one-seventh 
of the program, which the best philosophy of the 
subject demands, is now practiced. 

The following dialogue exhibits the outlook of 
two country ministers with differing philosophies. It 
is given entire to show the practical value of a knowl- 
edge of the complete cycle of the social development 
of a Church in community life: 

"Have you," I asked of one of two resi- 
dent pastors in a small country community, "a pro- 
gram of constructive work for your Church and 
parish?" 

"Just what do you mean by that question?" 

"You are a pastor," I explained, "you are ex- 
pected to fill your pulpit, lead your prayer-meetings, 
call upon your people, and bury your dead. Custom 
leads you in those things. But in what things do you 

111 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

lead? Have you not an ideal which you are working 
out? What is your constructive program?" 

"O yes, I have my ideal," he replied. "I don't 
believe in preaching higher criticism or science. I 
believe in the gospel and try to get other people to 
believe it. When they are ready to join the Church, 
I want them to join my Church. If they do n't 
choose my Church, I try to get them to join some 
other Church. That is the broader way. I believe 
in building up the Church. What is the minister for, 
if not to build up his Church?" 

"That is good. But how would you build up 
your Church? The modern farmer knows that 
nitrogen, potash, phosphoric acid, and lime properly 
applied will build up his meadows to any desired 
fertility. The minister can build up his Church and 
parish by his own personal leadership, by evangelism 
of the right kinds, by Church co-operation, or federa- 
tion, if he has a neighboring Church with which to 
work, and by social service. Social service is of two 
kinds. The Church may work through the Grange, 
the schools, and the Young Men's Christian Associa- 
tion, by co-operation; or by more direct institutional 
work with special social features in the country." 

"But I don't believe in institutional work. 
That 's what 's killing the other Church." 

"Do you mean the Nature Club and the Knights 
of King Arthur?" I asked. 

"That 's just what I mean, and the Young Men's 
Christian Association, too. None of the fellows in 
that boys' club go to church very much as I can see, 

112 



EDUCATION OF MINISTERS FOR SERVICE 

They just go to the club for a good time, and that is 
the end of it." 

"Do the same boys go to church less than before 
the club began to interest them? Has the club 
harmed the boys?" 

"I do n't know as it has done any harm. There 's 
nothing religious about the whole thing. The boys' 
club claims to be fair, but it has only two of our 
boys. The Nature Club elects only the persons they 
want for members. That County Young Men's 
Christian Association won't amount to anything. It 's 
all run by one or two. In fact, the other minister is 
run by one man." 

"Do you think so?" was my response. "I was 
talking with that very man about that matter. I 
said that as a minister I was not dictated to by my 
members, and he said that he would not be, either. 
Now, the pastor of the other Church," I had- to say, 
"is not ruled by any of his members. Instead, he 
has a program of work for the whole community. 
He could n't be a worthy minister without having 
just that. You have leaders in your Church whom 
you might direct, if your ideal were big enough. The 
other minister is just as religious as you are, and he 
is something besides. He seeks to minister to the 
whole life of his people. The County Young Men's 
Christian Association is nothing if it is not re- 
ligious. You need to keep in touch with it. It is 
trying to do the things you leave undone. The 
same with the Knights of King Arthur and the 
Queens of Avalon. The Queens of Avalon are cer- 
8 113 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

tainly fair to you. The three leaders are one from 
each of the Churches." 

"Yes, they are three Sunday school teachers." 

"You see the other minister's program," I ex- 
plained. "You should have your program. In your 
program you should not seek to do the things he can 
do better than you. There should be as many things 
you can do better than he. You should be friendly 
to talk over the needs of the whole field and to sup- 
ply them, if you could. Do n't you need co-operation 
in your plans?" 

"But you know I do n't believe in federation," he 
said. "I was talking this matter over with a brother 
at my out appointment. He said he did n't see how 
we could federate, because we had nothing to feder- 
ate with. Most all the workers in prayer-meetings 
throughout the country, whatever Church they are 
in now, were converted at our altars. And I think 
he 's about right. I do n't see as we have anything 
in this town to federate with." 

Breadth of Vision and Training Needed. — There is 
not a country pastor in America who does not have 
a philosophy concerning his work. In most cases it 
is very inadequate and onesided. There are but few 
specialists on rural improvement who have a philos- 
ophy and practical program which can "go on all- 
fours." 

Not long ago, in a lecture at a country-life con- 
ference, a program for country Churches, which had 
been worked out as a product of experience, as well 
as by the aid of the scientific method, was presented. 

114 



EDUCATION OF MINISTERS FOR SERVICE 

It gave in detail the seven group stages of the fully- 
matured country Church. After the lecture every 
one who shared in the open conference virtually said : 
"That program is theory. We care nothing about 
theory. What we want in solving the country Church 
problem is something practical. I have had experi- 
ence. This is my experience as to how to get the 
thing done practically." He proceeded to state the 
things which he had done, or knew needed doing. In 
every case, without exception, these men who criti- 
cised the theory did nothing more nor less than to 
give small portions of theory that were identical with 
some section or portion of the program outlined, and 
that had been worked out by sociological methods on 
the basis of thousands of experiments and observa- 
tions of actual instances. Their criticisms tended 
only to prove the truth of the program they sought to 
obliterate. It measured the limitations of their own 
ideas on the subject, and proved beyond question that 
the value of wcrk is determined by the philosophy of 
it. It takes more than a single stone to make a mosaic. 

It is not sufficient here to point out the need with- 
out showing a way to meet it. How may a minister 
secure a thorough knowledge of a standard philosophy 
of. rural improvement? Some leaders would say that 
the theological seminaries should furnish this instruc- 
tion. For instance. Dr. Warren H. Wilson has said: 

''Behind the country Churches stand the theo- 
logical seminaries; professional schools, founded and 
established for the training of ministers — originally, 
country ministers. At the present time these schools, 

115 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

with almost no exception, are rendering an entirely 
inadequate service. More than inadequate; it is 
misplaced, and has the effect of misdirection. For 
three years the student for the ministry is detained 
away from the study which he should pursue, and for 
a good part of that time he is diligently trained in 
studies that he ought never to follow. The country 
community, therefore, is a field, in the case of most 
ministers, for original investigation — untrained, ama- 
teur, and unsystematic investigation — in which he 
has no help from those appointed to be his helpers 
and his leaders. For the reconstruction of the theo- 
logical seminary, the sociological analysis of the 
country community is of the greatest value. It should 
be a special topic to which for a long time to come 
almost unlimited hours should be devoted in the 
seminaries, because rural sociology is of initial con- 
cern to him who would understand the American 
population and minister to the need of the whole 
American people." 1 

But this does not fully answer the question. The- 
ology in the equipment of the minister is more essen- 
tial than sociology. Though it is not impossible for 
the seminaries to furnish the necessary technical and 
laboratory courses in rural sociology, there is a better 
way to meet the demand. Not only should sociology, 
both scientific and practical, be covered in one's col- 
lege course, but rural sociology, both general and 
applied, should largely be covered as a part of the 
college curriculum. Full courses in rural economics 

1 American Journal of Sociology, March, 1911. 

116 



EDUCATION OF MINISTERS FOR SERVICE 

and sociology should be as much a part of the train- 
ing of every man — the lawyer, the physician, the 
teacher, the merchant, and the farmer — who is to 
live and serve within the field of rural America, as 
much as of the minister. The courses of sociology 
which may well serve in the education of rural leaders 
are such as President Kenyon L. Butterfield outlines 
in his article, ''Rural Sociology as a College Dis- 
cipline. 2 For the country minister, this may be sup- 
plemented by a special theological seminary course 
in the philosophy of rural social improvement by the 
Church. 

2. Catholicity of Acquaintance with the Rural Movement 

The second great thing that ministers should get 
to prepare themselves for rural work is a catholicity 
of information and acquaintance concerning the needs, 
resources, and progress of the movement for rural 
improvement. As far as this is a matter of informa- 
tion, it can be secured largely from the literature of 
country life. It is very much to the credit of some of 
our religious periodicals that they present lists of the 
best reading matter on the subject of the country 
Church and country life. This work needs to go 
very much further and be kept up-to-date by some 
central agency. In fact, there is need at the present 
time for a comprehensive bibliography on the sub- 
ject of the country Church and country life. The 
theological and public libraries have not done all that 
they might in providing country life book-shelves. 

2 Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, March, 
1912, pp. 12-18, Philadelphia. 

117 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

This phase of social service needs to be carried for- 
ward speedily. 

Our country life conferences ought very soon to 
include in their programs lectures on the literary side 
of the movement. We are beginning to urge the de- 
mand for at least one institution in the United States 
which shall have a special department of studies for 
the preparation of ministers for work in rural fields. 
One leading country pastor, for instance, has wisely 
said: "I am going to outline what seems to me to 
be indispensably necessary, lying ahead of the de- 
nominations in America that are at all prominent in 
the support of Churches in villages and country par- 
ishes. It is that interdenominational divinity schools 
be located and provided with faculties, curricula, 
and rural environment for study and specialization 
of different country life problems. We must have a 
rural ministry, dignified, modern, thoroughly trained, 
and fully abreast of the constructive, broad-minded 
agencies which are promoting more general phases of 
social service. Am I not right in thinking that our 
rural ministry to-day is in urgent need of vocational 
training, and that we should have seminaries of learn- 
ing equipped with proper experiment station facilities 
for gospel work in the open country and in hamlets 
and villages? Where is the prominent divinity school 
in this land that so much as knows what the open 
country and our villages are starving for, or that is 
not located where the big city atmosphere so per- 
vades the whole student body that its members are 
unfitted more than fitted for country work?" 

118 



EDUCATION OF MINISTERS FOR SERVICE 

Such a department should include, as one of its 
courses, a course on country life bibliography. There 
are at the present time more than fifty books which, 
in a special way, belong to the literature of the 
country life movement. Some of these treat of the 
Church and religious phases of the question; a larger 
number, perhaps, concern themselves with the country 
school and the educational phases of the movement; 
many treat of economics and local government, while 
a- few have the comprehensive social point of view. 
These books do not comprise by any means the best 
or the most important portion of rural literature. 
Many pamphlets, reports, and periodical articles are 
of great value. No country minister should be satis- 
fied to consider himself prepared for his work until 
he has a familiarity with the best of this material. 

The course on bibliography should be supple- 
mented by a course on religious and social propa- 
ganda, which should take up comparative studies of 
rural religious movements, methods, and progress. 

3. Rural-Mindedness 

The third phase of the country minister's educa- 
tion consists of his getting the point of view of rural 
life. He must be rural-minded. This does not mean 
that he must have the odor of the farm dairy and use 
the language of uneducated lumbermen. It does 
mean that he shall know enough of American national 
life to distinguish between its urban and rural factors, 
tendencies, and ideals; and that he shall be able to 
appreciate and to promote all that is best in rural 

119 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

civilization. His conversations and attitudes should 
express the spirit and capacity of rural leadership. 

It may be asked if any one born outside of the 
country should ever expect to consider himself quali- 
fied for work in rural pastorates. Some would say, 
Absolutely no. I would not thus answer the question. 

It is true that under existing educational condi- 
tions the most available portion of the training of 
many men for rural pastorates is that received on 
farms previous to attending high-school. That 
eighty per cent of all the ministers in this country 
are born and reared outside of the cities, is strong 
evidence that rural environment means much in the 
making of ministers. But it does not mean everything. 

The qualities of personal leadership, whatever the 
habitat, mean more in the equipment of a minister 
than any accident of boyhood surroundings. It would 
be as sensible to say that all city ministers shall be 
city-born as that all rural ministers shall be rural- 
born. The man who can not orient himself in rural 
life would not be worth while as a country minister, 
had his nativity been in the densest forest on the 
continent. It happens to-day that several of the 
most successful country pastors are graduates from 
city and town pulpits. No man is acceptably edu- 
cated for the social ministries of the modern Church, 
either in city or country, who does not know American 
civilization as a whole. We learn some things by 
contrasts. John Frederic Oberlin was a city product. 
Rural-mindedness may be acquired. 

This question is not so simple as it may appear. 
120 



EDUCATION OF MINISTERS FOR SERVICE 

The great curse of the rural community to-day is the 
urban-mindedness of the individuals who comprise 
it. It is this condition that has created the rural 
problem. The average country minister's ideal of 
success is his graduation from rural into town and 
city pulpits. Such a spirit should not exist. The 
most strenuous and effective educational work pos- 
sible is required to correct the evil. If this can be 
aided by birthright rural-mindedness on the part of 
our candidates for the rural ministry, so much the 
better. Our country ministers must work because 
they love and believe in their work as a contribution 
to the rural civilization, without which the nation as 
a whole must fail. 

Shall Rural Ministers Receive Agricultural College 
Training? — The second question in this relation is 
as to whether the country minister should have a 
portion of his schooling in an agricultural college. 

Ex-Governor Brewer, of Pennsylvania, expressed 
one view of the question when he said : 

"The trouble with the country minister is that 
he does not know how to farm. The old-style preach- 
ers could farm and did farm. They taught their 
people how to farm the land. The theological semi- 
naries should so train the minister that he would 
know how to bore a hole in the ground and see whether 
that spot would do for the planting of a- Baldwin 
apple-tree." 

Doctor Warren H. Wilson, in the following state- 
ments, more than balances the Governor's notion: 

" Modern life demands the service of specialists, 
121 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

but to specialize in agriculture does not prepare a 
man to serve in theology. If the minister can get 
no other specialty than agriculture, he had better 
serve the community as a scientific farmer, and be 
done with it. The modern minister is to serve not 
vegetables, but men. His specialty must be not the 
chemistry of soils nor animal husbandry, but he is to 
be a master of social science, because the ministry 
demanded of him is a social ministry to human beings. 
Unless one is willing to call country people vegetables, 
he should not think that scientific agriculture will be 
the preparation for serving them." 

"It is not the province of the Church," says 
Doctor Wilbert L. Anderson, "to teach directly the 
new agriculture, but rather to awaken the mind of 
the farmer, and arouse in him the spirit of idealism 
so that he will seek the new agricultural knowledge. 
The Church will say to the farmer, Cultivate your 
farm in the better way to make the most of your 
opportunity, to find the highest zest in your occupa- 
tion, and to glorify your calling. As country minis- 
ters, you will know less of farming in detail than your 
parishioners, but you should know more than they 
of the spirit of progress." 

For service in rural Churches our ministers need, 
and should, as far as possible, avail themselves of the 
educational advantages of our best agricultural col- 
leges. In no other way can they place themselves 
abreast of the best in the rural world which it is their 
business to idealize. Our agricultural colleges train 
men for rural leadership ; not to be mere manipulators 

122 



EDUCATION OF MINISTERS FOR SERVICE 

of vegetables, farm implements, animals, and mar- 
kets. No colleges and no departments of our Amer- 
ican universities come nearer to solving the problem 
of educating men for modern life than do the agri- 
cultural colleges. If they are not so well adapted for 
the particular task of training men for rural social 
and spiritual statesmanship as are some other schools, 
their spirit of progress is capable of speedily making 
them so. The era of co-operation between the theo- 
logical seminaries and the agricultural colleges, we 
trust, will soon begin to render to the world of the 
farmer, which even now counts its wealth at forty 
billion dollars, its proper plan of moral leadership in 
our national life, which is both earned and deserved. 
The agricultural colleges of to-day are pre-eminently 
the educational nurseries and kindergartens of the 
rural civilization, and without their dominating spirit 
no minister can know the world which he is intended 
to serve. The farmers' school and the farmers' 
Church must co-operate. 

4. An Invincible Purpose and Enthusiasm for Rural 
Spiritualization 

It has been observed that one of the largest ele- 
ments that enters into the experience of an agri- 
cultural college education for the country ministry 
is that of personal purpose. It may possibly be said 
that a person will gain success in spite of, rather than 
because of, his agricultural training. Such a conclu- 
sion can not be based upon the facts. One thing is 
sure: The average college and theological seminary 

123 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

of our day has the point of view of training for town 
and city work. They are schools located in large 
towns and cities, with professors who are drawn from 
successful city pastorates, and offering to graduates, 
as rewards, the better pulpits of town and city. It 
is unquestionably true that the young man who fol- 
lows the conventional training for the ministry, but 
who aims for the rural pastorate, must have an over- 
mastering purpose to enable him not to be harmed 
by the means used if he reaches the goal. 

There is an ethical factor that must not be omitted 
from any man's preparation for the country ministry. 
It matters not how highly-developed and universally- 
valid may be one's philosophy of rural improvement, 
how catholic one's information and acquaintance with 
the large rural movement, or how intimate may be 
one's touch with the conditions of rural populations, 
if a person does not have a purpose adequate to make 
him do the work of the best possible rural pastor, his 
other equipments will go for naught so far as country 
life is concerned. 

We face an educational problem. It is not a ques- 
tion alone of what the rural preacher ought to have 
in order to succeed in building up the rural com- 
munity, but of how we can develop and inspire in 
him the requisite determination. 

In his book, "Religious Life in America," Ernest 
Hamlin Abbott tells of a certain young minister who 
went directly from the theological seminary into a 
lumber town of New Hampshire. "There, under the 
auspices of the missionary society of his denomina- 

124 



EDUCATION OF MINISTERS FOR SERVICE 

tion," says Mr. Abbott, "he organized a Church. 
Highly educated, he devoted his mental acquirements 
to the improvement of the town schools.' Athletic, 
he used his physique in compelling the disorderly 
element in the population to respect, if not wholly 
to obey the laws. Bred in the lumber regions, he 
helped to cut the wood for the church building he 
succeeded in erecting. Broad in his sympathies and 
interests, he included in his church building a reading- 
room and gymnasium. Distrustful of traditionalism, 
he did not hesitate to make his preaching and teach- 
ing accord with modern knowledge. Strongly evan- 
gelical in temperame'nt, he drew people into the 
Church by the earnestness with which he declared 
his faith in the power of his crucified and risen Master, 
Christ. At the end of a few years — perhaps some half- 
dozen — he had transformed that community. But 
he had given his life. From sheer exhaustion he died, 
broken down in health and mind, a vicarious sacrifice 
for the people he had served." 

It will take more than the relating of such in- 
stances to produce the desired result. It is good, 
however, for us to note at least the direction in which 
the ideal lies. That one man had the purpose is 
better still. It shows us that the ideal is true. 

Suggestions on the Solution of the Educational 
Problem. — There are two suggestions that may aid 
in gaining the desired educational end in far wider 
measure. It is true, as Dr. Henry Wallace has said, 
that we can have no organized country Church move- 
ment to-day, because we do not have a sufficient 

125 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

number of leaders. The task is to use the resources 
at hand in developing them; or, to create new agen- 
cies for the specific training of rural religious leaders 
in the denominational schools and theological sem- 
inaries. 

Much is being written relative to social survey 
work in rural communities. We recognize that the 
best work along these lines can not be done until the 
theological seminaries or the agricultural colleges 
greatly increase what may be called laboratory fa- 
cilities. The average country minister to-day is 
unable to make an adequate social survey of his 
field, even though he has placed in his hands a guide 
for such work. No country pastor can meet the de- 
mands for social engineering who can not diagnose 
the social situation with which he has to deal. 

Departments of rural life should be established in 
connection with the best theological seminaries and 
denominational colleges, particularly those not lo- 
cated in large cities. In addition to courses in rural 
sociology, there should be courses in the science and 
art of general agriculture, rural home-making, rural 
economics, pedagogics in rural religious teaching, and 
rural Church administration. 

Another suggestion is that larger attention be 
given to the formation of an inclusive and centrally- 
organized country-life movement in the United 
States. 3 The Country Life Commission, appointed 

3 A very promising organization for carrying forward the great rural life 
movement in this country under the leadership of college men is the Col'egiate 
Country Life Club of America. Copies of the constitution and by-laws for 
local chapters may be secured for ten cents from the National Secretary, Prof. 
A. W.Nolan, Urbana, III. 

126 






EDUCATION OF MINISTERS FOR SERVICE 

by President Roosevelt, was a fair suggestion of what 
rural America needs. Sir Horace Plunkett's "The 
Rural Life Problem of the United States," is another 
contribution on this subject. Such an agency will be 
able to concentrate the forces of education for the 
training of a mighty class of rural ministers and 
leaders for the Churches on American soil, who shall 
lead, rather than follow, in the upward march of 
rural betterment. 



127 



CHAPTER VII 

The Principles of Apperception and 

Association in Rural Religious 

Teaching 

By Garland A. Bricker. 

1. The Principle of Apperception 

A farmer looks over his billowing field of wheat 
with a source of great satisfaction, for to him it rep- 
resents the reward of his labors — food for his family 
and money for his bank account. The grain dealer 
drives past the same field and is delighted with the 
prospect; to him it means a source of supply for his 
elevator. The sight of the waving grain puts hope 
and gladness into the heart of the community thrasher; 
he knows it will be a good job for him and his men. 
The botanist observes what perfect specimens of 
the wheat plant are in that £eld, and plucks a few 
clumps of the queen of grasses for his herbarium. The 
minister is touched with the wonderful sight and 
praises God, "For how great is His goodness, and how 
great His beauty! grain shall make the young men 
flourish." To him it represents infinite wisdom, great 
bounty, and tender care. 

All five men beheld the same wheat-field, but 
each saw something different. Each received a new 

128 



APPERCEPTION AND ASSOCIATION 

thought, a new inspiration, a new perception in 
terms of his past experience, or in accordance with 
his habit of life. Each man, then, apperceived the 
wheat-field according to his own personality. Apper- 
ception, as the term is used in psychology and in the 
science and art of teaching, is the perception of new 
things in relation to the ideas which we already 
possess. 

The Application of the Principle. — A little girl of 
the city, who had an acquaintance with dogs, visited 
in the country and, for the first time in her life, saw 
a pig. She called it a fat puppy. The idea of closest 
similarity to the pig that the child possessed was 
that of a pup; and hence she apperceived accord- 
ingly. 

Men come to think in terms of their habits of 
life. A business man thinks in terms of dollars and 
cents; a musician, in terms of harmonious tones; an 
artist, in terms of curves and colors; a preacher, in 
terms of the gospel he preaches; and, likewise, the 
farmer, in terms of his life in the country, his daily 
associations, and his environment. The farmer labors 
with the natural materials of the farm, field, and 
forest. The moods of Nature furnish the conditions 
in accordance with which he must labor and by which 
he is bound; the soil, the plants, and the animals are 
the crude materials with which he builds his fame; 
his weapons of warfare are the plow, the drill, the 
cultivator, the harvester, and similar implements and 
machines; and back of all these and over them all is 
his own might of physical force and the power of 
9 129 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

knowledge concerning his science and art. The 
farmer's habit of life is agricultural, and his thoughts 
are inseparably bound up with it. He sees new 
things through agricultural eyes, and apperceives new 
thoughts through his farm ideas. 

The rural minister of the gospel has here a great 
opportunity and a plain duty. His parishioners are 
farmers; their thoughts, their habits, their lives are 
all formed in accord with the environing influences 
under which they serve mankind and their God. 
Business, recreation, and education, to succeed, must 
come to them in terms of rural life and agricultural 
experience. Why not religion? It must; and the re- 
ligion that had its origin among the pastoral people 
may be preached with peculiar force to an agri- 
cultural population. 

The minister of the country Church must teach 
his people Christian truths in terms of the farm. He 
will need a new stock of similes and metaphors. His 
illustrations should be drawn from the common ex- 
perience of rural people. The message will not lose 
its efficacy when transmitted by means of grain, hay, 
cattle, milk, butter, separators, silos, incubators, 
chickens, eggs, wagons, horses, feed, plows, soil, 
mulch, fertilizers, insecticides, insects, plant diseases, 
fruits, farm insurance, failure of crops, etc. These 
are the natural, material things that form the point 
of contact between the farmer and the spiritual 
world. The rural minister that will compare a sinner 
to a sour soil, a backslider to a run-down orchard, 
and a revival to the renovation of such an orchard by 

130 



APPERCEPTION AND ASSOCIATION 

pruning, spraying, and grafting, will not be misunder- 
stood by his people. 

Factors Influencing Teaching by Apperception. — 
The more ideas one has on any subject or department 
of knowledge, the more readily will he be able to 
learn new ideas, either in the same department or in 
a different sphere of similar ideas. For this reason 
new ideas make the slowest progress among ignorant 




A BACKSLIDER 

people. Those that have much may readily acquire 
more, but those who have little make acquisitions 
slowly, and are in danger of losing even that which 
they already possess. The principle is as true in the 
realm of ideas as in the physical and commercial 
worlds. The more a farmer knows about scientific 
agriculture, the more readily may he understand 
principles new to him. The more ideas he has about 
agricultural science and practice, the more readily 

131 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

will he grasp new religious ideas that have a similarity 
to his stock of agricultural ideas. 

The greatest stock of ideas that rural people 
possess is concerned with rural life, particularly as 
found on the farm. The sum of these ideas forms the 
basis by which they grasp new ideas, and conditions 
their quickest and best thinking. Country people 
will grasp the significance of a religious idea more 
quickly and more easily if it is presented to them in 
terms of rural life. To present a new idea to a rural 
audience in terms of any other profession than farm- 
ing, lessens the probability that it will be thoroughly 
grasped, because the basis of apperception of country 
people is made up very largely of farm ideas. On 
this account, the illustrations used in religious teach- 
ing in rural communities, whether in the Sunday 
school or the pulpit, should be distinctly rural. 

In order that his parishioners may the more 
readily grasp the meaning of religious truths by en- 
larging the point of contact between agricultural 
ideas and religious ideas, the rural minister will find 
it desirable not only to encourage the study and teach- 
ing of agriculture among his people, but he may even 
find it necessary to incidentally teach facts of hus- 
bandry direct from his pulpit during religious services 
and in connection with his sermon. An enlargement 
of the agricultural knowledge of the people means an 
enlargement of opportunities to make conscious ap- 
perceptive teaching effective. 

Men learn those things most easily in which they 
are most interested; but interest is conditioned upon 

132 



APPERCEPTION AND ASSOCIATION 

the quality and the quantity of ideas already in the 
mind. Other things equal, the potentiality of ideas 
and their numerousness enhance interest. But on 
these conditions is also based the efficiency of apper- 
ception. So we see that interest and apperception 
function under similar conditions and along the same 
lines. Now, the farmer and his family are very in- 
tensely interested in agriculture, because out of this 
sphere of human activity the majority of their ideas 
and experiences have come. If the apperceptive 
factor is to be used most effectively by the country 
preacher, he must of necessity use the ideas, the facts, 
the principles, the laws, and the practices of agri- 
culture. 

It" is assumed in this discussion that the rural 
minister possesses no mean training in agriculture. 
Indeed, he needs to know a little more about the 
science of agriculture and its application than does 
the average farmer of his congregation. In many 
communities the live and talented minister may pos- 
sibly attain to this standard through reading and 
careful and frequent observation. Attendance at the 
farmers' short course, or the summer session of a col- 
lege or university where agriculture is taught for the 
purpose of further acquainting himself with this 
science and art, should yield ample reward for the 
sacrifice. Indeed, the time has arrived when, as a 
condition of preaching in the rural church, the min- 
ister should be required to possess a certain amount 
of agricultural knowledge. The seminaries and de- 
nominational schools should awaken to their duty 

133 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

and opportunity of offering at least one course 
throughout one year in the elementary principles of 
general agriculture, as well as briefer courses in rural 
sociology and rural economics. 

2. The Principle of Association 

The association of ideas is another principle of 
psychology. It has reference to the power of repre- 
sentation — memory. One thought causes another to 
come into consciousness, because they have been 
associated in the mind. One thought suggests an- 
other. The association of ideas by the mind may be 
due to several distinct causes. 

One of the most potential causes of the associa- 
tion of ideas is because of likeness and contrast. My 
mention of the idea, "cross," brings to the mind of 
one of my readers the idea, " Christ;" but to another, 
who has been recently studying the Moslem faith, 
the idea, "crescent." These ideas are associated by 
the law of correlation, as we call it; i. e., by discerned 
likeness or contrast. The rural minister who com- 
pares the little, alluring sins of life to the attractive 
butterflies or moths, and then shows, by developing 
the life history of the insect, what great and ugly de- 
stroyers they may really become, establishes for me 
a similarity which I shall not soon forget. The com- 
parison might well go on to show the best time for 
exterminating the insects and the sins, the results of 
carelessness, and the reward of watchfulness. A 
mention of the methods to be used in each case would 
probably not be amiss. Whenever I see a codling 

134 



APPERCEPTION AXD ASSOCIATION 

moth, I think of the little, enticing sins that my 
pastor has made him to represent. When I spray 
my apple-trees with arsenate-of-lead solution and 
thus lay the basis at exactly the right time for the 
destruction of this pest, I remember how my spiritual 
father has impressed me with the necessity of taking 
precaution at the right time against the pests of life. 

Another law of association is that of emotional 
preference. Ideas of things are associated in our minds 
because they agree with our natural preferences; they 
either please cr displease, attract or repel us. If I 
am especially interested in dairy cattle, and the 
preacher speaks of the best balanced ration for dairy 
cows for the purpose of making an illustration of how 
each Christian meeds a balanced supply of religious 
teaching, in order to become most efficient as a Chris- 
tian citizen, he receives my very closest attention 
and holds it. In the future, when I consider balanced 
rations for my cows, and whenever the idea is men- 
tioned, by emotional preference, I will also think of 
the minister's idea of a balanced religious manna, 
and whether I am giving due consideration to my 
spiritual feeling. 

The Principle of Association in Operation. — If two 
or more ideas are presented to us and so associated 
as to arouse our emotional preference, or, by point- 
ing out likenesses or contrasts, we are apt to associate 
aU the ideas the next time we think of any one of 
them. This process of associating the same ideas 
may occur so frequently as to become a mental 
habit. The good minister compares temptation with 

135 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 



storms, and a human being with an oak tree. From 
a seedling to its majestic matured life, the storms 
have beaten against that tree; but with the passing 
of each storm the oak sent its roots deeper and deeper 
into the earth, securing a surer anchorage as time 
passed on. The tree never once yielded, and to-day 
he stands the monarch of the forest, majestic in his 
strength and purity. A failure to anchor securely 
upon a sure foundation year by year, day by day, 
would have brought destruction and death to the 
tree during some terrific storm. But there he stands 
ready to overcome any storm likely to sweep his 
native forest. The next day the good man's parish- 
ioners go to their usual 
toil in the fields. There 
stands an oak. How 
majestic! No storm 
can lower him; he has 
taken sure anchorage. 
Ah, here stand I in the 
midst of the tempests 
of sin! Am I surely 
and securely anchored 
like yon oak? The as- 
sociation rings true — 
the message has been 
reawakened by the 
sight of the oak. Every 
time I behold an oak 
tree, the spiritual idea returns: the two are insep- 
arably linked together, because of the association of 

136 




"AM I SURELY AND SECURELY 
ANCHORED LIKE YON OAK?" 



APPERCEPTION AND ASSOCIATION 

ideas. They have re-occurred in my mind so often 
that the association of oak tree and constancy in 
Christian living has become a habit of thought. The 
sermon is re-preached each time an oak tree, standing 
or lowly laid, comes to sight or consciousness. The 
good minister taught me in terms of my experience, 
my apperceptive basis was such as to enable me to 
get the full force of the truth he taught and associate 
it in my mind with an idea perfectly familiar to me. 
The association has become fixed in my life as a 
habit of thought, and its power affords one of the 
chief anchors projected into the world of the In- 
finite. 

The rural minister has a wonderful opportunity 
of co-operating with Nature to inculcate moral and 
Christian teaching. Every object in nature, and 
especially on the farm, should reflect or suggest the 
Creator or one or more of His attributes to the 
countryman. By linking agricultural facts and rural 
objects inseparably with religious truths, the preacher 
of the country Church may accomplish this thing. 
Every object in the farmer's environment will thus 
come to have a religious significance. Every member 
of the rural Church will come to see that 



for 



"Earth is crammed with Heaven. 
And every bush afire with God." 

'The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof." 

"And this our life, exempt from public haunt, 
Finds tongues in trees, books in running brooks 
Sermons in stones, and good in everything." 

137 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 



With these constant and powerful admonitions to 
righteous living, the farmer, among all men, should 
be the most religious. 




LOST 






A SUGGESTIVE SERMON OUTLINE 

Subject: Resistance to Temptation. 

Temptation to sin comes from two sources — our- 
selves and our fellows. 

The two sources of temptation to sin may be com- 
pared with the two sources of plant destruction, viz., 
insect pests and plant diseases. Plant diseases are 
the temptations that arise from within; insect pests, 
the temptations coming from without. 

To protect fruit trees, there must be constant and 
thorough spraying. Watchfulness and persistence are 
needed on the part of the farmer. So with tempta- 

138 



APPERCEPTION AND ASSOCIATION 

tion to sin; the soul must ever be persistently watch- 
ful. No one knows when the germs, the insects, or 
the temptations may come. It behooves us to be 
ever ready. 

There must be no playing with sin. It will not do 
to put off spraying; that must be done in its season. 
So with our fortification against sin. 

There is a remedy for each plant disease or foe; 
likewise, a grace that makes us immune to every 
temptation. 

By spraying, the farmer secures an abundance of 
superior fruit; one who keeps free from sin will also 
bear more and better fruit. Late spraying may save 
the tree, but lose the fruit; so with fortification 
against sin — it may come too late, and while the person 
may be saved, the good works that he might have 
done will be lost. 

The whole tree must be sprayed; the whole life 
must be consecrated. One place unguarded leaves a 
vulnerable point. 

But there is a difference in the analogy. In Chris- 
tianity there is one remedy for all the diseases of 
sin;- in agriculture there is no such universal refnedy 
for plant disease and insect pests. Each disease or 
pest has, as a rule, its specific remedy. 

This emphasizes the simplicity of Christianity — 
one remedy for all sin — Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 



139 



CHAPTER VIII 



The Agricultural College and the 
Country Church 

By William Oxley Thompson, D. D., LL. D., 

President of Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. 
1. Primitive Condition 

The person whose memory goes back to the 
middle of the nineteenth century will recall a vivid 
picture of community life quite in 
contrast with anything he is now 
able to see. The residents of the 
rural communities in Western Penn- 
sylvania and Eastern Ohio at that 
period were either the original set- 
tlers, or their children who had 
cleared up the farms and laid the 
foundations for whatever commu- 
nity life existed. Many of these 
people, like my grandfather, had 
built their houses from the trees felled on their own 
farms. The building'of a log house or a barn was, in 
great measure, a community enterprise in which the 
neighbors joined, led by a few skilled workmen who 
directed the activities. The extinct long shingle, or 

140 




PRES'T THOMPSON 



THE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE 

clapboard, and a little later the shorter shingle, were 
split and shaved out of the choicest oak trees found 
on the farm. This was an activity practically every 
farmer engaged in for himself. If he was not able to 
make his own shingles, he could, by exchange of 
service, secure them without much cash outlay. 

The first and second generation of these people 
were compelled to co-operate in order to build their 
homes, their schools, their churches, and oftentimes 
to harvest their crops. We should not lose sight of 
the fact that these men were farmers before the days 
of rapid transit or of modern machinery. The writer 
has helped to tramp wheat on the barn floor and to 
clean it with the wind-mill before the days of the 
"bunty" machine, which was nothing more than a 
cylinder set with spikes to separate the wheat from 
the straw, as a substitute for tramping it out with 
horses. The community flour mill, operated by water 
power, was one of the primitive industries serving the 
needs of the people without competition and without 
any such an organization as may be found at present 
in great railway centers. The topography of the 
country lent itself readily to what may be termed 
community groups. Villages grew up as trading 
centers in these communities, and sometimes became 
the religious, commercial, and educational centers for 
considerable areas. These early communities were of 
necessity local in much of their life. The elementary 
school is always a local institution, and being at that 
time almost the only school, every community had 
its own local educational activities. In a large num- 

141 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

ber of these communities the settlements were made 
by people of similar antecedents — the Scotch-Irish, 
the Dutch, the Irish, the Germans — and hence 
readily lent themselves to the development of the 
local Church. Eastern Ohio had its Quaker centers 
and Presbyterian centers, and Pennsylvania just as 
distinctly had its Quaker communities, its Lutheran 
communities, its United Presbyterian centers, and a 
variety of others. In those days the means of trans 
portation, for a large portion of the State, were con- 
fined to such roads as primitive communities could 
afford or provide, and therefore people were disposed 
to cluster about the same institutions. The singing- 
school and the party were community affairs. A 
wedding frequently brought a social event at the 
home of the bride, and the "infair" brought another 
at the home of the groom. There were no distinct 
lines of social cleavage, for the evident reason that 
the industries of the community included people of 
similar religious and social antecedents. In many of 
these segregated communities the religious and social 
life clustered about the Church more than about any 
ether activity. 

2. Agencies of Transformation 

The conditions characteristic of a community in 
the early stages of these settlements and development 
could not long continue. The increase of wealth, the 
development of political life, the improvement of 
transportation, and the advent of the steam railroad 
steadily transformed the industrial activities and 

142 



THE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE 

made the growth of centers of population inevitable. 
More than any other factor, it is probable that the 
improved means of transportation has brought the 
country to town and made the town the center of re- 
ligious and educational life. Here it was that the 
stronger Churches were soon developed, and that 
schools reached their better organization. The dis- 
trict school, at first an institution of one or two rooms, 
steadily developed into a graded school crowned with 
the beginnings of the modern high-school. The old 
country academy, often attached to a Church and 
managed by the local pastor as its chief officer, served 
two generations of the people as the outlet of their 
desire for more extended education. In some places 
the organization of a college by a Church furnished 
both the academic and the college training, and be- 
came an institution to which other academies sent 
their selected students. 

The country grist-mill steadily gave way to the 
village flouring mill. In modern days this has given 
way to the city milling company. The grandson of 
the farmer who hauled his wheat to the mill and 
brought back the flour, bran, and middlings, now 
sells his wheat to the elevator company, buys his 
flour from the village or city dealer, and. his bran, if 
he uses it at all, in the general market. 

The advent of the interurban railway has served 
to closely connect the parents in the country with 
the children in the town, and to centralize the markets 
for ordinary purposes in the village. It is a common 
sight now on Sunday mornings to see the interurban 

143 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

railway cars rilled with young married people, taking 
their children to spend the day with parents and 
grandparents in the country, while the return visit 
to the children in the city is a less frequent occurrence. 
The village or city high-school educates the children 
accessible to these interurban railways, and thus 
brings a considerable percentage of the country under 
the direct influences of the city ideals and city prac- 
tices. A majority of these children, through the 
natural law of association and education, look to the 
city as the place of future activity, rather than to the 
country. 

Drift Westward. — In the midst of the life of this 
generation now under consideration, the cheaper and 
richer lands of the West were opened, and a steady 
migration took place. Parents in some cases sold 
their farms and went Westward to buy cheaper land 
and more of it, and to make provision on a larger 
scale for farming. The old methods of agriculture 
were steadily superseded by the newer methods, 
brought about by the development of agricultural 
machinery. The prairie countries started, after the 
popular fashion, in developing the district school, the 
country Church, and a somewhat similar life as will 
be seen by reading any book such as Eggles ton's 
"Hoosier Schoolmaster," which gives a reasonably 
accurate picture of the primitive life of the early 
settlers in the prairie States. These communities 
have undergone much the same transformation that 
took place in the Eastern communities, modified more 
rapidly by the extension of railways and the location 

144 



THE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE 

of Western towns almost entirely along these lines of 
transportation. In the Eastern States there still re- 
main segregated communities not reached by rail- 
roads, but these are rapidly showing signs of decline 
and decay. 

At the close of the Civil War the return of the 
soldiers found a new spirit in the people, and many of 
them made that period the occasion to migrate to the 
newer parts of the country. This took to the newer 
country the larger portion of the younger men and 
women, while the older country was filled with a new 
population. The better organization of coal-mining, 
the discovery and development of the oil industry, 
the development of manufacturing enterprises and the 
allied industries brought a foreign population^ into 
the older States quite different in character from the 
original settlers. This industrial revolution produced 
a rapid development in the population in many 
towns, and transformed some of them into vigorous 
and prosperous modern cities, oftentimes at the ex- 
pense of the rural community life. 

Agricultural Decline. — Two things were clearly ob- 
served in the middle years of the nineteenth century, 
namely, a decline in Eastern agriculture and the rapid 
development of production ©n the newer prairie 
farms, which tended to lower the profits and change 
the character of Eastern farming. We know that 
profitable agriculture in these older States is depend- 
ent on the intelligent application of the teachings of 
agricultural science. The first two generations of 
farmers were not awake to the fact that their profits 
10 145 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

were due to the accumulated fertility of the centuries, 
and that they made it impossible for the next gener- 
ation to compete with the more fertile lands of the 
West. This continually decreasing margin of profit 
produced a certain discontent on the farm, for which 
there seemed to be no remedy. A badly-used, run- 
down farm of decreasing fertility was not in position 
to encourage the hope that the improvements of the 
original settlers could be replaced in such a way as 
to insure the farmer a comfortable living and a reason- 
able outlook for his family. A study of the statistics 
now reveals the fact that large areas of Eastern farms 
steadily declined in productive power. This fact, 
once recognized, became a source of dissatisfaction, 
and underlies the transformation which has occurred 
in many agricultural districts first settled. 

Agricultural Colleges. — As early as the days of 
George Washington, we read warnings concerning the 
decline of soil fertility. This subject was repeatedly 
discussed in agricultural societies from Massachusetts 
westward to Illinois. As a result of this agitation, 
Mr. Justin S. Morrill, a member of Congress 
from Vermont, became the exponent of the idea of 
education that should develop institutions devoted to 
the teachings of the sciences related to agriculture and 
the mechanic arts. His bill was passed in 1857, but 
vetoed and subsequently passed, and became a law 
by the signature of President Lincoln in 1862. The 
impetus to this movement was found among the farm- 
ers of the country, who had become aroused to the 
necessity of a better agriculture. Men in the cities 

146 



THE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE 

and men engaged in manufacturing enterprises were 
quick to see that the permanent prosperity of the 
country could not abide unless the progress of agri- 
culture kept pace with the needs of the country. 
For twenty-five years these colleges, as established 
by Federal aid, addressed themselves to the teaching 
of a science yet in its infancy. These years developed 
the fact that no permanent improvement could be 
made in the teaching of a science which was not based 
upon carefully-verified experiment. As a result of 
this conviction, Mr. William Henry Hatch, member 
of Congress from Missouri, succeeded in securing the 
passage of the Hatch Act, granting Federal aid to the 
establishment of the agricultural experiment stations. 
For twenty-five years these stations, by carefully- 
selected experiment, have laid the foundation of a 
science upon which modern agriculture is being built. 
The agricultural college is teaching what the ex- 
periment station has demonstrated. These institu- 
tions have covered the entire field of agriculture, 
from the basis of soil fertility and soil conservation to 
the production of the best types of live stock and the 
scientific management of farms. It was both natural 
and proper that the agricultural college should first 
devote its energy to the fundamental and economic 
questions related to agricultural production. Believ- 
ing the soil to be the nation's endowment, the first 
problem was to preserve this endowment in its per- 
manent productive power. Around this important 
fundamental issue has clustered all the interest and 
activities of agricultural institutions. 

147 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

Like every other institution, the agricultural col- 
lege has had its days of primitive simplicity. It had 
to enter a new and untried field of education. There 
were no precedents established and no landmarks by 
which it could be guided. It was confronted not 
only with the necessity of developing the science of 
agriculture, but it had to develop competent teachers 
of the subject, who were sympathetic with, and en- 
thusiastic in, the farmers' problems. It met with the 
inertia of unbelief and indifference. Farmers them- 
selves in many instances did not believe in "book 
farming," nor did they believe that there was a science 
of agriculture which could be taught. Nature was 
originally so bountiful as to make men careless. The 
popular belief oftentimes amounted to a prejudice 
against the newer agricultural methods. The agri- 
cultural college was confronted with the necessity of 
demonstrating its own efficiency to an unwilling and 
often unheeding constituency. It was soon discovered, 
however, that agriculture, like civilization, develops 
its own diseases. An impoverished soil was a more 
fruitful source of plant disease than a rich soil; at 
any rate, diseases were more destructive. Plant 
pathology and the study of plant diseases and their 
prevention and cure was practically unknown to the 
generation before the Civil War. The agricultural 
college, therefore, has found itself compelled to face 
the problems of preserving and developing plant life, 
as well as preserving the productive power of the soil. 
In the realm of animal industry the same general 
statements are true. The college, therefore, has come 

148 



THE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE 

to be regarded as an institution related to the funda- 
mental, scientific, and economic problems of rural life. 
New Conception of the Agricultural College. — Out 
of these early experiences of the agricultural college 
there has come further development of its mission in 
attacking the social problems of rural life. A profit- 
able industry always develops wealth and leisure for 
the people. It opens the way to a larger participa- 
tion in social and religious life. This new life develops 
its problems, and just here the agricultural college 
has found it important to introduce the study of 
rural economics and rural sociology. Political econ- 
omy in earlier history was regarded as the dismal 
science, because it was presumed to deal almost ex-. 
clusively with the questions of values and of wealth. 
Later development of political economy has shown it 
.to be a social science as truly as the science of wealth 
production. In much the same way the field of rural 
economics has expanded into the larger fields of rural 
welfare. The student in the college of agriculture is 
not now regarded as completely educated unless he 
has an intelligent grasp of the problems of social life 
in the open country. He must have a fundamental 
training in political economy from the older and 
narrower point of view, supplemented by the broader 
view of society. These men, as they return to the 
farm or engage in agricultural activities of any sort, 
become the leaders in the agricultural idealism which 
sets the standard for farm life. It is inevitable in 
this study of social problems that the question of 
recreation, amusement, and religion, and all other 

149 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

community activities must have some adequate con- 
sideration. 

The Church as an institution has not been pre- 
pared to make a study of this phase of rural life, nor 
has it felt the necessity of doing so. Leaders in the 
Church, including the ministers, have regarded the 
Church as being exclusively a religious agency, and 
have not felt the necessity of relating the industrial 
and social activity with the Church. Without offense, 
it may be said that Jesus, living among an agricultural 
people, brought the most of His classic illustrations 
from the field and the industries of the people. One 
can not avoid the feeling that there was the closest 
intelligence and sympathy on the part of the Master 
with the people whom He served. Following in His 
leadership, it is of vital importance now that all the 
institutions of modern society, including our teachers 
in the school and our teachers in the Church, should 
be able to use and apply the principles of religion to 
vitalize the motives of industry, and the experiences 
of our industries to illustrate the essential principles 
of our religion. As a matter of fact, in the develop- 
ment of our population the city has steadily gained 
ascendency, and its ideas have obtained too much 
hold upon the rural population, thus tending to lower 
the appreciation of the dignity of country life. 

3. The Educated Ministry 

The ministers most naturally represent the leader- 
ship of the Church. They are the men best educated 
for leadership, and to them we look most naturally 

150 



THE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE 

for the ideals as to what the Church should be. The 
education of these ministers in modern days is largely 
assigned to the theological seminary. These schools, 
following the established custom, have sought to 
make men efficient in a knowledge of the Scriptures, 
the problems of theology, the history of the Church, 
and in the preparation of the gospel message. They 
have assumed, with propriety, that the underlying 
education of the college should give a man the neces- 
sary foundation in liberal training, including eco- 
nomics and philosophy. Great problems of the 
Church in evangelization have not been overlooked. 
It may be said, however, without harshness, that 
neither the college nor the theological seminary has 
adequately comprehended the social conditions of 
modern society which have made the problems of the 
local Church more difficult. 

The college was the first to discover the difficult 
social problems arising in the city out of the develop- 
ment of modern industries, and the consequent sepa- 
ration ' between the employer and the employee. It 
soon became evident that the social cleavages in the 
city were making difficult the problems of the city 
Church. The theological seminaries have awakened 
also to this fact, and, under the general theme of city 
evangelization and the city Church, have endeavored 
to train the young men preparing for the ministry in 
a practical application of their education to the solu- 
tion of the social and religious problems of the city. 
The theological schools are to be commended in this 
regard with enthusiasm. 

151 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

It was but natural that the problems of rural 
population should be the last to receive attention. 
The tradition of the ideal life associated with the 
farm persisted in the minds of many men and women 
who had moved from the country to the city. In 
fact, the country was not awake to the stratification 
that was going on in country life. When we dis- 
covered that in the States having the most profitable 
agriculture there was a strong tendency toward ab- 
sentee ownership and a development toward an itin- 
erant renting class, the seriousness of the situation 
dawned. In many States practically fifty per cent of 
the farms are now owned by city residents, and are 
operated by renters with but frequently one year 
of tenure. This has introduced into every rural 
community an unstable class of citizens, who can not 
be relied upon to build schools, churches, or com- 
munity life. Moreover, the easier methods of trans- 
portation make it possible now for a considerable 
percentage of the rural population to identify itself 
with the religious and social life in the town or city. 
When we also remember that in States like Ohio, 
Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa the rural population has 
actually decreased for two decades, and that the city 
population has more rapidly increased than ever be- 
fore, we are prepared to see why a considerable num- 
ber of rural Churches have been abandoned and an- 
other percentage is struggling for existence. Happily, 
some of them are prosperous and growing in power. 
The problem, therefore, is so to adjust the Church to 
the new conditions in rural life as to enable it to ad- 

152 



THE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE 

minister adequately to the spiritual needs of all the 
people. This has brought to the front the distinct 
need on the part of the ministry of a stud} 7 of the 
rural religious and social problems. A few theological 
seminaries in the country, recognizing this need, have 
provided conferences on rural life (summer schools 
for rural ministers), and have introduced into the 
course of instruction some study in rural sociology. 
It is hardly to be expected that the colleges of the 
country will ever be able to meet this situation. 
Many young men complete their college course before 
determining to enter the ministry. Their previous 
study, therefore, may not have been the best suited 
as a foundation for theological study. The theolog- 
ical seminary is, therefore, confronted with the prob- 
lem of equipping her students for efficient service in 
the Church. It is rather easy for the seminary to 
have the city point of view. What Dean Bailey has 
described as a city-minded man is more frequently 
found in the college graduates than the country- 
minded man. Service in the rural Church, to be 
most effective, should be rendered by the country- 
minded man. It is here that the agricultural college, 
with its knowledge of rural conditions, rural life, and 
the rural mind, might be able to make an important 
contribution to the preparation of the country min- 
ister. Is it too much to suggest that a close co-oper- 
ation between the agricultural colleges and the theo- 
logical seminaries might render a distinct sendee in 
this particular? There are men in our agricultural 
colleges quite as enthusiastic about the Christian and 

153 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

social problems of the country as they are about any 
economic problems of the farm. These men could 
profitably co-operate with the theological seminaries 
in the training of the ministry. Already, as intimated 
above, a start has been made. There are two ways 
by which it might be continued. First, nearly all the 
colleges of agriculture are giving short courses during 
the winter season, to which they invite matured 
farmers. These courses are intended to be more or 
less popular in the presentation of the practical prob- 
lems concerning the farmer. A study of these prob- 
lems would be helpful to the pastor in a rural com- 
munity. Ministers who have attended them have 
attested the value of the instruction, as giving them 
a better understanding of the farmer's point of view. 
There is no good reason why these short courses 
should not introduce at least an elementary study of 
rural sociology. This would bring the farmer and 
his pastor on a common ground, and enable them to 
see the problems of their community in a new light. 
The second method might be to introduce an oppor- 
tunity in the theological seminaries for competent 
men in the colleges of agriculture to give courses of 
lectures or instructions to theological students that 
would present the farmer's problems in such a way 
as to enable the minister of the gospel to enter upon 
his work better equipped than he now does. This 
method of co-operation has been fully attested in 
other fields. Every technical school in the country 
now seeks to familiarize the students before gradua- 
tion with the practical workings of engineering and 

154 



THE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE 

industrial enterprises. Colleges of agriculture put 
special emphasis upon the importance of their students 
making a study of the most successful farms and farm 
operations within a reasonable distance from the 
college. This is simply the laboratory method ap- 
plied to technical education. Its purpose is mani- 
festly to supplement the theoretical knowledge of the 
class-room with a practical acquaintance of every- 
day affairs. The minister of the gospel, above all 
other men, must deal with the practical affairs of 
the people in their every-day life. His success in or- 
ganizing the religious forces of the rural communities 
will be measured largely by his ability to understand 
the conditions as they are. The agricultural college 
and the theological seminary are the two places where 
his theoretical acquaintance must be obtained. So 
earnest are the agricultural college people of the 
country in this question of rural betterment that they 
are prepared to go almost any distance to meet any 
agency in a co-operative service. 

4. Immediate Service of the College to the Church 

The long-standing argument for the denomina- 
tional college has been that the college can render a 
distinct service to the Church. When one considers 
the annual output of the American colleges and stops 
to think that this multitude is almost immediately 
sent into our centers of population, and then realizes 
that the Church is inadequately organized to meet 
and greet these young people, he may well raise the 
question as to a closer connection between the college 

155 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

and the Church. Into our cities every year an in- 
creasing number of young men and young women, 
holding college degrees, go for the purpose of pursu- 
ing their careers and making a place for themselves 
in the world. These are young people of some ideals, 
some ambition, and of some power. They ought to 
be utilized, but it is doubtful whether the Church 
has ever been able to lay hold of this opportunity. 
Most of these young men and young women are poor 
in purse, many of them in debt, and all of them 
struggling for recognition and place in their profes- 
sions or callings. They are not in position to bring 
any financial strength to the Church for some years, 
but they ought to be affiliated with the Church and 
brought into co-operation with the best men and 
women of the city in the work of good citizenship. 
The college can never do its complete work, nor can 
the Church until the two clasp hands in an intelli- 
gent effort to make the college-bred man or woman 
an effective force in our city life. In a parallel way, 
the man holding a degree from the college of argi- 
culture or a man having pursued agricultural studies 
for a single year or more should, upon his return to 
agricultural life, be utilized as a factor in the uplift 
and betterment of rural life. Every such young man 
should return to his community with a keen apprecia- 
tion of the fact that the rural Church is a means of a 
great social uplift and the guardian of the best in- 
terests of the community. It is not necessary for the 
college of agriculture to commit itself to an objec- 
tionable form of teaching religion in order to en- 

156 



THE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE 

courage its students to devote themselves to the rural 
Church, or to instruct them in the value of the Church 
to the local community. This is by no means sec- 
tarianism. It is using the people's institution to in- 
struct its young men in the social and religious value 
of another institution supported by the same people. 
Notwithstanding the objection that has persisted in 
the minds of many against the State having anything 
to do with religion, it may well be contended that the 
problems of the agricultural college have to do with 
the fitting of men for efficient rural living. In no 
spirit of narrowness or sectarianism, therefore, the 
college may urge the importance of the rural Church 
as an institution related to the happiness of the 
people. The college will not do its whole duty in 
teaching men how to grow more corn or to produce 
a better type of livestock, but must address itself to 
the whole round of rural problems. In rendering this 
kind of service the Church and college of agriculture 
should be in close accord. No man would be more 
welcome among a group of students than the pastor 
of the Church from the community in which he lives. 
Up to date the Church has neglected its opportunity 
of service in the college. The college has probably 
neglected its opportunity for service to the Church. 
The new awakening among the American people is 
rapidly developing the belief that a more generous 
attitude toward the institutions of the community, 
like the Church and the school, should be cultivated 
on every hand. The college of agriculture, founded 
and supported for the purpose of maintaining and 

157 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

developing a strong, virile manhood and womanhood 
upon the farms of the country, as much as for con- 
serving our nation's material resources, will do no 
violence to American freedom by urging upon students 
and the public alike the importance of the rural 
Church as one of the best agencies for conserving 
rural life. The college can not make a complete 
survey of rural life and omit a consideration of the 
Church and its work. On the other hand, the Church 
at large, interested in the welfare of all the people, 
can ill afford to neglect the opportunities afforded in 
colleges of agriculture for maintaining and strength- 
ening the spiritual forces of the rural Church 



158 



CHAPTER IX 

An Adequate Salary for the Rural 
Pastor 

By Rev. N. W. Stroup. 

The Problem Stated 

To frankly state that two of the most important 
elements that have to do with the human side of the 
advance of Christ's coming Kingdom are money and 
men, does not depreciate the pre-eminence of the 
spiritual. We need not worry about the divine ele- 
ment in Christianity if we meet the conditions. The 
call of Christ is for service, substance, and self. That 
is to say, the saving of men is helped or hindered by 
the obedience or disobedience of individuals. Do we 
obey? Do we serve? Do we give? 

The Union army in the days of '61 to '65 de- 
manded both money and men. The true patriot was 
of supreme importance, but his equipment and main- 
tenance were also essential. Consecrated wealth in 
aid of truth has enabled man}' nations to win in the 
contests of the centuries that otherwise would have 
signally failed. The officers of the Lord's army, en- 
gaged in the greatest warfare of the centuries, must 
not be asked to maintain their own support. The 

159 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

conquest must not be delayed by the commissary 
department. 

A Comparison of Salaries and Service. — It is 
stated on good authority that one-third of the min- 
isters of the United States are receiving a salary of 
less than $400 a year, notwithstanding the fact that 
the average family can not be properly supported on 
less than $750 a year. The common hodcarrier in 
New York receives $900 yearly wage. The union 
plumber receives $1,200 for an eight-hour day's 
service. The average carpenter receives in excess of 
$1,000 a year. In contrast to these trades that re- 
quire little or no special training, the pastor must 
spend about $2,000 on his education; he must educate 
his family, dress well, buy books and periodicals, as 
every other up-to-date professional man, pay his 
debts promptly, and be a self-respecting citizen; and 
do all this on half the salary of many day laborers. 
Excluding the large cities, the highest average shown 
by any denomination is only $710, while one denom- 
ination pays an average salary as low as $325. 

Some one has wisely said, "The evil one has' hit 
upon the device of starving the minister as a means 
of crippling the work of the Christian Church." The 
sin of the saints is a subtle selfishness that is suicidal 
to spiritual growth and Christian conquest. There is 
a low and a higher sacrifice, and many fail to dis- 
tinguish between these two forms, which are alike in 
name, but wholly unlike in quality. The one is con- 
tent to allow the pastor to practice self-denial in 
financial matters, the other demands efficiency in 

160 



AN ADEQUATE SALARY 

equipment and "a living sacrifice, acceptable unto 
God," yielding the maximum of service to men. 

The Work of a Country Church Commission. — We 
would call attention to two examples of injustice 
calling for remedy, that may serve as an explanation 
for the action of the Country Church Commission of 
the Cleveland District of the Methodist. Episcopal 
Church. 

First. That of a pastor who was compelled to sell 
his life insurance policy to enable him to buy a horse 
and carriage, necessitated by a change of location. 
The brother died suddenly, and his widow was de- 
prived of the insurance money to which she was right- 
fully entitled. 

Second. A pastor, with a wife and family to sup- 
port, served a charge faithfully for eleven months 
last year, and during that time received but &248 
from three Churches. He was required to buy a 
horse, carriage, and harness costing $140, at the be- 
ginning of the year, and then wait until the close of 
the year for the balance of the §600 promised. 

On the Western frontier such treatment might be 
excusable, but on the Western Reserve 1 it is out of 
harmony with the principles of the gospel we preach. 

On the principle that the strong ought to help the 
weak, the Commission decided to appoint a day in 
November that should be known as "Forward Move- 

1 When Connecticut ceded her Western lands to Congress in 1786, she ex- 
pressly reserved a strip of land stretching westward from the eastern boundary 
of Ohio immediately south of Lake Erie. This strip of territory was known 
as the "Western Reserve," and is still referred to by this name with pride by 
the descendants of the pioneers who live in it. 

11 161 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

ment Day," and the members of each Church were 
requested to make an offering of a sum equal to their 
income for that day. The following Sabbath they 
brought their gifts to the Church, and offered praise 
to God for the influence and power of the village and 
rural Churches, which to the majority had been their 
spiritual birthplace. The plan was a new one, and 
had to win its way for a fair hearing in Churches 
already crowded with requests for special appeals. 
But wherever presented the response was cheerful, 
and the donors testified to being blessed in their 
giving. These struggling Churches near the old home- 
steads that had suffered so many departures were 
brought back to memory, and in that memory there 
was a message and a ministry. 

The gifts of the Churches came in, and were sup- 
plemented by several personal subscriptions from 
friends who had caught the vision of the need and 
wanted to help. The Commission was glad to fulfill 
its promise to supplement the salaries that fell below 
th'e minimum of $750 and house, and by paying the 
larger portion of it during the first three months of 
the year, the pastors have had a new spirit of devo- 
tion and zeal in their service. The time heretofore 
wasted in*worry and trying to meet bills payable was 
invested in service to seek and save the lost. 

The purpose of the plan is twofold: 

First. Better Service through better leadership, at- 
tainable by the payment of a living wage. 

Second. The lengthening of the pastorate term, 
a very necessary clement in the great task of rural 

162 



AN ADEQUATE SALARY 

leadership and community-building. We have too 
few Charles Kingsleys and John Kebles, who are con- 
tent to spend thirty years in one parish and redeem 
a community. One pastor, who may serve as proof 
of the above, was continued for an additional year, 
so that he might have time to reap the harvest of his 
sowing. This man experienced one of the greatest 
revivals known in that charge for a generation. The 
gift of $150 in this instance was instrumental in help- 
ing to make possible one hundred conversions. Thus 
we see that money has a very vital relationship to 
the Kingdom. 

The Right to Expect a Living Wage 

That a young man should demand, and has a right 
to expect, a living wage in the work of the ministry is 
no reflection upon his consecration or call to Christian 
service. We are not speaking of frontier work or the 
foreign field, but of well-to-do communities, where the 
people live in good homes and have enough and to 
spare of this world's goods, and who would not be 
impoverished by the giving of a tenth of their income 
to Christ and His Church. It is no longer demanded 
of a minister to live a life of deprivation and extreme 
self-denial, in so far as the comfortable support of him- 
self and family are concerned. He ought to sacrifice 
and he must do strenuous service, but for the members 
of the Church to be content to let their spiritual leader 
want for the bare necessities of life, while they live 
in comfort, is inconsistent with the teaching of the- 
gospel we profess to practice. 

163 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

A splendid young man employed by a business 
firm at a salary of $1,200 a year, and that paid 
monthly, felt called to the work of the Christian min- 
istry, and would not be disobedient to the call, but 
he had a family to support and educate. The Church 
says we can pay you only $600, and three-fourths of 
that will probably not be collected until the end of 
the year. They are able to pay more, and they could, 
by some effort, pay it regularly, but experience proves 
that they do not. The preacher, in this case, is called 
upon to make more than his full share of the sacri- 
fice, when he has a reasonable right to expect that 
his Christian brethren share in this self-denial. The 
members of our Churches, as well as those outside 
the Church, must come to realize that God holds 
them responsible for their share of service and sacri- 
fice no less than He does His other disciples who have 
heard the call to be leaders and generals in this battle 
against sin. 

What Constitutes a Living Wage? 

What is a living wage for a minister of the gospel 
in this twentieth century? Some one has stated that 
the "ideal standard of living demands the satisfac- 
tion of reasonable wants of both body and intellect, 
and includes an ambition to improve." Professor 
Albion W. Small, in a volume on "Charities and the 
Commons," asserts that the average family needs a 
thousand dollars. The New York Commission, after 
a scientific study of thousands of families, sets the 
minimum at the point where the average family 

164 



AN ADEQUATE SALARY 

ceased to run. into debt at $825. Carroll D. Wright 
in 1901 investigated the cost of living for 25,440 fam- 
ilies living in thirty-three different States. The re- 
sult of this study, confined to wage-earners, showed 
4,38 as the average membership of each family, and 
the mean income of all was $749.50. In 1908 statistics 
give the average income of the anthracite miners in 
Pennsylvania as $693.34, and though these foreigners 
can live on less than one-half the amount required 
by the average American family, even they are not 
as well cared for as they deserve. 

Engel's table of proportionate expenditures is as 
follows : 

Food 50 % 

Clothing 18 % 

Rent and lodging 12 % 

Education, religion, etc ■ 5 % 

Heat and light 5.5% 

Care of health 3 % 

Comfort, recreation 3.5% 

Legal protection 3 % 

Total "" 100 % $750 00 

This list has no mention of life insurance, books, 
periodicals, benevolences, railroad fare, expense of 
keeping a horse, laundry, furniture, and a score of 
small expenses and demands that come to every min- 
ister during the year. 

Another carefully prepared table of expenditures 
for the average family of four, which has in it no 
provision for death, protracted illness, or the edu- 

165 



$375 


00 


135 


00 


90 


00 


37 


50 


41 


25 


22 


50 


26 


25 


22 


50 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

cation of children beyond the common school, is 
as follows: 

Rent $167 00 

Car fare 14 00 

Fuel and light 39 00 

Furniture 9 00 

Insurance 19 00 

Food ". 345 00 

Meals away 22 00 

Clothing 112 00 

Health 18 00 

Taxes and dues. . 11 00 

Recreation 6 00 

Education 5 00 

Miscellaneous 40 00 

Total $807 00 

The following plan, suggested by F. M. Barton, 
editor of The Expositor, is worthy of careful consider- 
ation, and ought to aid in the solution of a very serious 
problem, which faces all the denominations repre- 
sented in the rural districts: 

"The minimum salary for ministers shall be $750 and house, 
and the maximum salary $3,000. Any Church may pay more 
than $3,000, provided the Church gives an amount equal to the 
excess of the $3,000 to ministerial relief, to be used exclusively 
for insuring a salary of $750, and for the support of ministers 
who have been honorably retired on account of age or disability. 
No Church shall receive any portion of this relief fund unless 
the members of said Church are giving for Church and minis- 
terial support an amount equal to the amount of taxes paid on 
real and personal property by the combined membership." 

This, as has been stated, would be opposed by officials 
and pastors in large Churches, but it has the advan- 

166 



AN ADEQUATE SALARY 

tage of being Christian in spirit and brotherly in 
practice. 

Rights of Pastor and of People 

The country pastor has some very just rights that 
should be respected and complied with on the part of 
the membership of every Church. 

First. That he shall receive a living wage com- 
mensurate with his needs and the efficiency of his 
ministry. 

Second. That his salary shall be paid promptly 
and regularly each month or week. If this should be 
impossible in some few places, then a loan could be 
made at the beginning of the year, from which sums 
can be drawn to pay the salary as it falls due. The 
interest on $200 for ten months would amount to 
only $10, and that could be borne by a hundred 
people much easier than by one man, especially when 
that one is the pastor. 

Third. That each pastor serving a circuit where 
a horse and carriage are essential, shall have this part 
of his equipment furnished by the Church, just as it 
now provides the parsonage. Officials give as an ex- 
cuse that some preachers do not know how to care for 
a horse, and they might injure it. My answer to this 
objection may be briefly stated in these words: 

"Any man who is fit to care for the souls of immortal beings 
surely ought to be capable of being entrusted with the care of a 
horse and buggy." 

Fourth. A pastor is deserving of the most broth- 
erly consideration and co-operation in all the work 

167 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

he is commissioned of God to perform. The Church 
can not well refuse to organize a committee that will 
see to the business management of its finances. 

The claims of the Church must not be ignored or 
lightly set aside. It has a right to expect faithful, 
conscientious, self-sacrificing service on the part of 
him who is to be its minister. His time and talents 
belong to the Church that supports him; not that it 
may dictate what he shall preach, but that he must 
give himself wholly to this one task. Should he, 
after preaching on Sundays, spend the greater part 
of the week either in loafing at home or lecturing for 
extra revenue away from home, the officials have a 
perfect right to object, on the ground that they are 
not receiving that for which they are asked to pay. 

The Principle of Subsidizing Weak Rural Churches 

Some few Churches have suffered so greatly by 
the removal of supporting members that they are 
unable to meet the salary standard. These must not 
be given inefficient, untrained leaders, which is cer- 
tain to mean decline and death, but for a year or two 
they should have outside support to enable them to 
reinforce their waning membership roll. In this con- 
nection, we may state that it should not be our policy 
to continuously subsidize any Church so long as there 
is a possibility of stirring the local field to the plane 
of honorable self-support. To some charges we have 
sent either " amateurs" or superannuates, until the 
treatment has endangered the life of the patient. The 
need is not more money, but more man. Our rural 

168 



AN ADEQUATE SALARY 

Churches are often the victims of a faulty policy, and 
we must begin our solution higher up. 

To insistently state that the farmers of a certain 
parish are abundantly able to pay a decent salary, 
and that we will do nothing for them unless they do 
their full duty, is not the part of wisdom, and has 
killed more Churches than it has helped. The same 
could be said of many city parishes where the Church 
has closed its doors. We forget that they must be 
enlisted in the message and ministry of the society 
before they can be counted on for financial support. 
While this is being done, a competent leader must be 
guaranteed a living for himself and family. The task, 
in some instances, may only require six months' 
time, while in others it may demand three years. 
But whatever the time or expense involved, if the 
Church is needed, we must be ready and willing to 
pay the price. The need is often greatest where the 
ability to support is very meager. 

Money and Ministry 

Money has a very vital relationship to ministry 
in this twentieth century. We are not condemning 
the ideals of our fathers when we insist they do not 
always apply to the present age which we are di- 
vinely called to serve. The spiritual man can not 
escape being affected by his physical condition, and 
no more can the minister of Jesus Christ escape the 
many exacting demands made upon him by this 
modern age in which he must live and labor. The 
people require that their spiritual leader be a man 

169 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

among men, self-respecting and self-supporting, and 
able to properly care for himself and family in so far 
as the common necessities of life are concerned. 

The modern pastor must not be a mediaeval ascetic 
or a recluse. John Wesley did not imitate John the 
Baptist either in diet or dress, and yet he was not 
unlike him in spiritual fervor and devotion. There 
is no force in the appeal to use the old " flint-lock" 
when we have the modern repeating rifle. Courage 
and patriotism are elements of character quite apart 
from the form of army equipment. Voluntary pov- 
erty is no longer the badge of saintliness. Consecra- 
tion is not dependent upon self-denial in material 
things. While it may at times be a necessity, it is not 
an essential to pastoral fidelity. 

We demand efficiency in Christian work, and 
whether that be wrought out in the foreign field or 
the home land, it requires money as well as men. It 
is no credit to a denomination to state that its pastors 
subsist on less than the standard wage of the average 
laboring man, who is quite generally underpaid. If 
the Church is to move forward "like a mighty army" 
to the conquest of this world ior Christ, the generals, 
as well as the men in the ranks, must be well fed, 
comfortably clothed, as well as carefully disciplined. 
The times demand it, and the Master will not excuse 
our failure to measure up to the efficiency standards 
of twentieth-century life. 

Pay for Trained Leadership 

The rural pastorate is worth while, and the office 
should not be minified, but rather magnified. The 

170 



AN ADEQUATE SALARY 

country community has ever been the physical, 
moral, and spiritual recruiting ground for the city. 
The best of our educational and religious leaders are 
none too good for the work in hand, and the farmer 
can not afford to be satisfied with cheap and un- 
trained pastors and religious teachers. "The city," 
as Professor L. H. Bailey expresses it, "sits like a 
parasite, running out its roots into the open country 
and draining it of its substance. The city takes 
everything to itself — materials, money, men — and 
gives back only what it does not want." We must 
not forget that the country problem is a personal one, 
and has to do fundamentally with the character of 
the individual, as well as with the question of in- 
creased crops and larger profits. That means leader- 
ship, and able leaders have a right to expect competent 
support. 

A recent census of the prominent men of New 
York City, according to Newell Dwight Hillis, shows 
that "85 per cent of them were reared in the villages 
and rural districts. Seventeen cf twenty-three Pres- 
idents came from the farm. A census of the colleges 
and seminaries in and about Chicago showed that 
the country communities are furnishing 80 per cent 
of our college students. The chances of success seem 
one hundred to one in favor of the country boy." 
This is more than a question cf pure air and good 
health, and is far more moral than physical. The 
explanation is deeper than even a genius for hard 
work, essential as that quality may be. These facts 
emphasize the importance cf trained leaders. 

171 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

Sacrifice has quality as well as quantity. The 
miser and the martyr both sacrifice. We must not 
confuse the different grades which may have certain 
features in common, but yet are almost wholly unlike 
in character. First, there is the sacrifice of love — 
the losing of life for Christ's sake — which results in 
permanent ministry to mankind. Second, there is 
the sacrifice of material things and of equipment for 
service, which have to do largely with the outward 
life, and results in efficiency and impotency. One 
has to do with courageous conquest, while the other 
has to do with our every -day living. One is spiritual, 
the other physical; one has to do with Christ's com- 
ing Kingdom, the other concerns the individual and 
his maintenance. 

It is one thing to be a true patriot and quite an- 
other thing to be a volunteer pauper. It was no 
credit to the Union that her soldiers were crippled for 
lack of good food and proper clothing. Patriotism is 
not dependent on physical starvation; neither is 
spirituality dependent on financial stringency. The 
genuineness of a man's call to the ministry is not 
conditioned on small salaries. It is true that these 
still find a place in the religious creed of many good 
people, but they are irrational and un-Christian. We 
denounce the mediaeval asceticism of the Roman 
Church, but our present-day treatment of many min- 
isters is quite out of harmony with the spirit of the 
gospel. 

Sacrifice in and of itself may have no special moral 
value. It may be blind asceticism or pure selfishness. 
' 172 



AN ADEQUATE SALARY 

There is a vast amount of sacrifice that is wholly 
commercial and in the interest of evil. The higher 
sacrifice is in aid of righteousness and truth, while 
the lower is usually the servant of self and substance. 
It is not difficult to find successors to the man who, 
praying for his pastor, said, "Lord, you keep him 
humble, and we '11 keep him poor," thinking those 
two qualities as vital to pastoral piety. There are 
many "officious" members who imagine that it is 
not strictly religious to pay a pastor regularly and 
liberally. When the plea is made for an advance in 
salary, they express fear of what they term seculariz- 
ing the ministry, as though a living wage would in- 
terfere with a man's spirituality. Officials are often 
very exacting as to a preacher's poverty, but quite 
indifferent to his inefficiency and lack of aggressive- 
ness. 

Sacrifice will always serve if it be of the right 
sort, and a proper financial support will always en- 
hance that service. Why should we not have more 
sense and less sentiment regarding money and re- 
ligion? We ought to be so anxious for the success of 
the work that we should rejoice in every possible rein- 
forcement of the workers. Money in the possession 
of a consecrated pastor or layman is a power for 
good. The danger is not in the amount of salary 
received, but rather in the character of the individual 
receiving it. The genuineness of a man's call to the 
ministry can never be safeguarded by a limitation of 
income. It must be determined by some higher 
motive. 

173 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

The emphasis must be placed on strenuous service. 
The lazy pastor who is content to accept starvation 
wages lends no halo to the calling, and is small value 
to the kingdom. Our low standard of salary has a 
tendency to invite a class of men who are devoid of 
the ambition and aggressiveness that would com- 
mand success in other professions. The work of the 
Christian ministry is no place for men who are con- 
tent with mediocre attainment. Moral and spiritual 
leadership demands men of strong convictions and 
commanding courage. Men of this type will not 
consent to be treated as objects of charity. 

The monks of the Middle Ages, who took vows of 
celibacy and poverty, are poor models of Christian 
consecration. They were deficient in the main attri- 
butes of New Testament Christianity, in that they 
neither served as salt nor leaven nor light. They were 
as useless to the Kingdom as. they were poor, and as 
deficient in vital piety as they were superstitious. 
The mistaken policy that fosters such a practice is 
more pharisaic than Christian, and should find no 
favor in present-day thought. 

The call is for a "living sacrifice, wholly and ac- 
ceptable unto God, which is our spiritual service." 
That means something far more vital than poor 
clothing and poor food; something more reasonable 
than limited libraries and inadequate educational ad- 
vantages. We can not be content with such a re- 
sponse to the call. The Church demands leadership 
and loyalty, and the campaign must have, able gen- 
eralship, amply reinforced for winning in the great 

174 



AN ADEQUATE SALARY 

warfare against spiritual wickedness in high places. 
We must have men who can command the army and 
win the battle. We need the pastoral patriotism of 
Paul, expressed in the words, "I die daily." He did 
not refer to starvation in monastic seclusion, but to 
that nobler Christian sacrifice of fellowship in the 
sufferings of Christ. "To leave all," and "to sell 
all," is only the preparatory part, enabling the indi- 
vidual carrying "excess baggage" to more success- 
fully take up the cross and follow the Christ. 

"Toiling up new Calvaries ever 
With the Cross that turns not back." 

The Master never expected that the disciples 
should sit and sing themselves away to everlasting 
bliss, nor idly wish "to be nothing." The Christianity 
of Jesus demands less of the negative sentiment ex- 
pressed in the words, 

"Nothing in my hand I bring," 

and more of the positive aggressiveness which ex- 
claims, 

"To serve the present age, 
My calling to fulfill; 
O, may it all my powers engage 
To do my Master's will." 



175 



CHAPTER X 



The Spiritual Evangelization of the 

Rural Community Through 

Its Church 



By Rev. Otis Moore, 

Pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church at 
North Canton, Conn. 

1. The Supreme Aim 

What is the test of efficiency in the work of the 
Church in the rural community? Does it help to 
bring the Kingdom of Heaven into 
the hearts of the people? Does it 
help to make the community a part 
of the Kingdom of Heaven? This 
is the test. Whatever directly cr 
indirectly ministers to this great 
aim is a legitimate activity of the 
Church; but if any activity fails in 
the long run to help toward the ac- 
complishment of this high purpose, 
it is worse than useless. The spir- 
itual evangelization of the rural community is the 
supreme mission of the rural Church, the register of 
its real success, and, in the last analysis, the motive 

176 




REV. MR. MOORE 



SPIRITUAL EVANGELIZATION 

force which will realize lesser aims, if ever they are 
to be realized. 

And the inspiring thing about trying to bring the 
Kingdom of Heaven into a rural community is that 
the Church, which utilizes all the spiritual forces 
available, which puts prayer and hard work into its 
every activity, may actually see results. The work 
of any one Church in a large center, be it ever so 
strong and efficient, can at best make only a small 
contribution toward the redemption of a great city. 
In the country the situation is different. Who has 
not seen a rural community actually transformed 
within the lifetime of one man — so transformed that 
it is easy for all who know the community to appre- 
ciate the contrast between what it was and what it 
is? Where a community was a center of shiftlessness, 
ignorance, and hopelessness — a community, perhaps, 
where people lived in almost utter disregard of all 
things high and noble, it has become a center of in- 
telligence, of moral worth, of high-purposed Christian 
citizenship. Things like this have been done and can 
be done through the Church. Surely such a task is 
one to challenge the consecrated talents of any man. 

But a great work of rural regeneration such as 
this is not wrought under God in a day, nor under the 
leadership of any pastor who is not appreciative of 
his opportunity and in love with his job. 

2. The Sort of Leaders Needed 

In this connection, it may be said that a lack of 
real sympathy on the part of the country minister 
12 177 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

with his people is back of the failure of many a 
country Church's work. Sometimes it is an old min- 
ister, buried in his books, a man whose sermons 
smell of the study-oil, perhaps a fine preacher for a 
scholarly audience, but having no deep sympathy 
with, or understanding of, the troubles, needs, and 
ambitions of his farmer people. Let no man speak 
disrespectfully of this man's ministry, but let it be 
said that such a ministry fails to grasp the full mean- 
ing of the country minister's opportunity. Some- 
times it is a young man, who is just resting in a 
country parish until he can make arrangements to go 
to a better charge, or, to state the extreme case, until 
he can pull the wires or make splurge enough to get 
a city appointment. The ministry of such a man is 
an incalculable hurt to any rural community. Of all 
the perils of the country Church, probably none 
could be worse than the peril of a self-seeking min- 
istry. A more common and less pernicious case is 
that of the young man who is really deeply devoted 
to the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, has entered 
the ministry perhaps at a sacrifice, but who does not 
set himself seriously and definitely to the task of 
understanding the people with whom he works in 
the country. He may feel that he is not fitted for 
work in a rural community, that his training has not 
been in that direction at all. In a perfectly natural 
way, except for an occasional round of formal calls, 
and the routine of Sunday Church service and prayer- 
meeting, he puts in most of his time in studying his 
books, and very little time in studying the people and 

178 



SPIRITUAL EVANGELIZATION 

the situation with which he has to deal. He wants 
to be fitted for a bigger place when the call comes. 
His interest in his parish is at best temporary. His 
pastorate is short. Sometimes, too, a sort of dis- 
illusionment comes to a young man just entering the 
work, who is utterly devoid of any self-interest, who 
has indeed a very passion for unselfish service, be- 
cause he finds that people in general — sometimes 
older ministers even — assume that he is anxious to 
get a "better appointment." We have no quarrel 
with the ambitions of any man, and without doubt 
it is perfectly human and natural, and sometimes 
necessary, for some men to seek to fit themselves for 
the bigger, better-paid places; but the work' of a 
country preacher in a poor rural community, through 
a glorious ministry, is a ministry of service and sac- 
rifice. The man who would build himself into the 
life of a rural community, who would build himself 
into Christ's Kingdom in the country, must give 
himself to it with the same passion and self-renuncia- 
tion as a foreign missionary. And I believe many 
young men are eager to do it. The spiritual evangeli- 
zation of the country communities depends on such 
men. 

3. Hindrances to Spiritual Evangelization 

The heart of rural life in the United States is 
sound. As a general thing, the country Churches 
have held, in some more or less distinctive way, a 
place in community leadership. On the other hand, 
because many of them have been too narrow in their 
field of leadership, they have not made conquest of 

179 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

their territory. Worse than that, there has been 
ground lost in the spiritual life of some country dis- 
tricts, which only "grace, grit, and gumption" can 
regain. Contrasting, ■ for example, a certain very 
prosperous and progressive country community in 
Iowa with certain very backward, abandoned farm 
sections of New England, two essentially different 
conditions present themselves. In both cases an 
unprogressive Church is at fault. But in the one 
case a very progressive, prosperous community has 
left a lagging, unprogressive Church behind it, while 
in the other the community itself is dying, because 
a visionless Church has failed to give the people the 
spirit of co-operation for community betterment. 
The cases are typical, and I believe fairly represent 
two chief perils of country life. The big task of rural 
conservation, of rural betterment, is how to preserve 
the simplicity, purity, and naturalness of country 
life, while stimulating intelligent progressiveness. 
This is the task of the Church ; for the country Church 
can not be considered apart from the community. 
Their interests are absolutely identical. A peril can 
not be a peril to the community unless it is also a 
peril to the Church. 

(a) The Progressive Community. — In the case of 
the prosperous Iowa farming section of which I 
speak (and it might as well be a prosperous farming 
section of any other State), the community has been 
citified too rapidly; social distinctions are beginning 
to become prominent. In the old days the hired 
man was as good as anybody. Not infrequently the 

180 



SPIRITUAL EVANGELIZATION 

hired girl was some neighbor's daughter. Her father 
might be better off than the man who hired her, but 
if she was not needed at home, she felt no sense of 
inferiority whatever in working out. But the curse 
of artificial class distinction began to fasten itself on 
the country. In this community many of the farmers 
have automobiles. Others are madly struggling to 
get them; and some have them who have no business 
whatever to have them. In other ways, people are 
struggling wildly to "get ahead of each other, to make 
a show of prosperity before their neighbors. The 
people do not go to church; they go visiting on Sun- 
days, or speed off to the nearest pleasure resorts. 
Shrewdness is at a premium and settled principles are 
discounted. It is only among the chosen few that 
we find intellectual interests and high ideals. People 
live for the moment, or else they do not know what 
they live for. Bad as it is, it happens that in this 
particular Iowa community the social purity of the 
people has not been contaminated very much as yet. 
There are a good many empty-headed and flashy 
young people around, but there is still a standard of 
decency prevailing in general, mostly because the 
Church still lives, however feeble and despised. The 
harvest of this sort of thing will come in the next 
generation, vvmen all connection with the Church has 
been broken, and already one can see that it will not 
be a desirable result to contemplate. This com- 
munity needs old-fashioned religion, burning from the 
heart; it needs to have the old gospel of moral right- 
eousness and sin-hating proclaimed to it by letter, 

181 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

by personal word, by sermon, and from every sign- 
post. Somehow the community must be made to 
see its drift. The children need to be trained in the 
love of Christ and the Church and in the high inter- 
ests of intellectual life. Somehow, at any cost to 
discarded formality, the Church must be made the 
social center of the community, that it may also be 
the spiritual center. 

(b) The Stagnant Church. — In the case of the dying 
Church in the dying community the situation is alto- 
gether different. If it is going to die because there is 
another evangelical Church in the community, let it 
die. Who shall say that it is not in the Providence of 
God that many competing Churches in rural com- 
munities are being killed off. I think there is too 
much emphasis laid on the necessity for preserving 
competition among the Churches. To my mind, the 
devil furnishes competition enough for anybody. If 
there is only one Church in a country community, 
and it is dying because the community itself is dying, 
the chances are ninety-nine out of a hundred that if 
the Church as an institution helped to promote scien- 
tific farming in the community and did its full duty 
in uniting the people in co-operative endeavor, both 
the community and the Church would live in strength. 

4. Helps to Constructive Evangelization 

Now there are other spiritual perils in our country 
communities besides these two — stagnation on the 
one hand, and progressiveness gone riot on the 
other. But these are among the most common and 

182 



SPIRITUAL EVANGELIZATION 

most pernicious. How can they be met and counter- 
acted? How can the spiritual regeneration of such 
communities be brought about? The answer surely 
must be: By making religion more a part of the 
every-day interests of the people. The Church should 
help to make better farmers, that it may make better 
men. The Church should lead in all things good, 
that it may lead the people to the best. It should 
lead in community betterment, that it may lead the 
community to God. There must be old-fashioned 
religion, but new-fashioned Church methods. 

(a) The Community Survey. — It is a wonderful 
thing for a country community to get a clear vision 
of itself, and then a vision of what it may become. 
It is a forerunner of spiritual conquest; in fact, a 
notable triumph in itself, for a community to get an 
ideal clearly before it, however far away the realiza- 
tion may be. Every pastor and every Church should 
study the problem of the local community. Under 
the guidance and help of the Holy Spirit, they should 
find out as near as possible just what the needs of 
the Church and of the community are. If the Church 
does not measure up to its opportunities, what are its 
weaknesses? Just where does it fall short of the 
ideal Church for the field in which it works? How 
about the community? If the community is drifting, 
morally and spiritually, can not some sort of compass 
observation be made to show this. If the country 
roads are in bad shape, if farming methods are behind 
the times, if there is no wholesome social life for the 
young people, if the farmers do not work together as 

183 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

they should, can not the trouble be clearly located? 
The Church should get before itself a definite ideal 
to work for, one which includes the entire com- 
munity. It should be an ideal which will capture the 
imagination of the young people and stir the interest 
of all. 

Furthermore, a definite program of specific things 
to be accomplished should be carefully worked out 
by all. Then a constructive program, covering a 
period of years, but amenable to change, should be 
adopted. Each organization connected with the 
Church should have its responsibility for its part of 
the program. Both ideal and program should be 
definitely outlined and posted in a conspicuous place. 
The pastor should preach at least once a year con- 
cerning "What ought this Church to do?" In every 
possible way there should be kept before the people 
the Church ideal and the community ideal, with a 
program of definite things to be done. It is abso- 
lutely fundamental in rural Church work to be headed 
somewhere definitely, no matter how small the 
Church or the community. 

(b) Community Brotherhood. — Mark Twain once 
said that he wanted to belong to the Human Race 
Club. Because it aspires to be a part of the Kingdom 
of Heaven, the country Church ought to be a sort of 
local headquarters for the Human Race Club. Every 
member and every attendant of the Church should 
be made to feel his responsibility for making the 
Church a place where the real spirit of Christian 
brotherhood prevails, and for spreading that spirit 

184 



SPIRITUAL EVANGELIZATION 

in the community. This should be preached and 
practiced. Snobbishness should be scathingly con- 
demned. Every possible effort should be made to 
make the atmosphere of the church attractive to 
everybody. The following letter was recently sent 
to the heads of the Jewish families in our community, 
and the appeal met with a hearty response: 

"The object of this letter is to extend to you a very cordial 
invitation to come and worship with us at the North Canton 
Church. There is no synagogue in this place. I am sure that 
you must feel the loss of an opportunity to worship the true God 
with others. I do not propose to try to make proselytes of you 
or your children in any way. I know that there will be nothing 
in my sermons at which you can take offense. Of course, I do 
propose to preach the sweet, simple story of Jesus, with the 
hope that it will win you to accept Him, but I shall not make 
any special proselyting appeals to you. Your children need re- 
ligious influences. You realize that as much as I do. Come 
and see if you do not like the fellowship of our Church. And, 
in any case, let us get together in every way we can for our 
mutual good, for the uplift of the community, and the better- 
ment of all. Will you not think of me as your brother in the 
worship of Jehovah?" 

The Church should furnish a wholesome, happy 
center of social, intellectual, and spiritual interest for 
all. There should be something going on all the 
time; something in which social, intellectual, and re- 
ligious elements can be helpfully combined. As a 
general rule, the social events in the country should 
include everybody, from the oldest to the youngest. 
Community picnics, farmers' institutes, Old-Home- 
Day celebrations, and local historical pageants are 

185 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

the sort of things which should draw out everybody. 
In our Church we have a "Game Room Night" every 
Tuesday evening, to which no one is urged to come, 
but everybody is invited; and "Full-Moon Socials" 
once a month, with "Nothing to eat and nothing to 
pay." We have mock trials, debates, home talent 
entertainments, declamatory contests, camp-fire even- 
ings, corn-roasts, skating parties in the winter, old 
folks' nights, and a baseball team. In the Church 
services we celebrate all the days — Harvest Home, 
Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, Washington's 
Birthday, Lincoln's Birthday, Good Friday, Easter, 
Seed-Time, Mothers' Day, Memorial Day, Children's 
Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, and we make sure 
that everybody knows about these things. However 
slow the progress may be, the young people should 
be trained to have full charge of their social events, 
and to have a helping part in everything done for the 
Church. There are books of social plans available 
nowadays, and also many periodicals publish excellent 
suggestions. 1 The old lyceum, with its current events, 
question-box, debating society, travel studies, spelling- 
bee, 2 etc., is still a splendid institution. In so far as 
possible, the social events should be cultural and edu- 
cative and spiritual; and the educational events, as 

1 Stern, Renee B.: "Neighborhood Entertainments," p. 297. 1911. Stur- 
gis and Walton Company, New York, $1. 

2 "Agricultural Words and Spelling Contest Rules " is the title of a book- 
let containing an exhaustive list of words commonly used on the farm and in 
agricultural instruction, together with rules for conducting spelling contests. 
The booklet is especially designed to form the basis of spelling-bees in rural 
communities. Specimen copies may be secured for 10 cents each from the 
Country Classics Company, 1081 Fair Avenue, Columbus, Ohio. 

186 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

farmers' lectures, elocutionary recitals, and general 
lectures, should also be social events. Religion should 
not be "dragged in" on social occasions, but every 
event and occasion should be permeated with the 
Christian spirit. Prayerfully and tactfully managed, 
these social events may easily furnish rare oppor- 
tunities for religious suggestion and influence. 

This wider community brotherhood, of which the 
Church is the center, should be economic, as well as 
social and religious. If a farmer is sick or disabled, 
the Church men should lead in organizing the neigh- 
bors for a helping-bee. They should lead in good- 
road agitation, and see that every dollar spent for road 
improvement does something. The Church should 
strive in every possible way to promote business co- 
operation and mutual helpfulness among farmers. 

The movement for co-operation among farmers 
now sweeping over the country is one of the most 
significant economic changes of the time. It has 
already revolutionized farming conditions in certain 
sections of the West. The financial success of these 
co-operative enterprises is something marvelous. But 
that is the least of the benefits. Co-operation is edu- 
cative. It is unifying. Not only has co-operation 
brought prosperity to many an otherwise doomed 
community, but the economic saving to society at 
large is tremendous, for it helps to bring to market 
immense quantities of food-stuffs which would other- 
wise go to waste. It is almost impossible to exaggerate 
the significance of the co-operative movement among 
farmers throughout the country. 

188 



SPIRITUAL EVANGELIZATION 

Co-operation is a matter of fundamental spiritual 
interest. It is based on the faith of a man in his 
neighbor, and that, in the last analysis, is based on 
a man's faith in God. Co-operation is impossible 
without the spirit of brotherhood; in other words, the 
spirit of Jesus. In the long run, co-operation can not 
live without a religious background, and with a re- 
ligious background it can be made wonderfully 
helpful. 

(c) The Church's Responsibility for Community In- 
telligence. — Souls grow by what they feed upon. There 
is no excuse for any rural community being without 
good library facilities; and it should be part of the 
business of the Church to see that its community 
does have such facilities. If the community itself 
can not maintain a growing library, outside aid can 
undoubtedly be secured. Almost all of the States 
now have State traveling libraries available at a nom- 
inal cost for transportation. 

The Church should encourage, and even promote, 
knowledge of scientific farming, and strive to capture 
the imagination of the boys and girls for farming as 
a life-work, farming with the brains as well as with 
the hands. They should also be interested in the 
ideal of rural life as one with full-orbed possibilities 
for happiness and service. We have had a dozen of 
the best known experts on agricultural subjects in 
New England come to speak to us in our little church. 
Almost any country Church can do things of this 
kind by co-operating with the State Board of Agri- 
culture and the agricultural college. 

189 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

It goes without saying that the Church and the 
school should work hand in hand in toning the intel- 
lectual ideals of the community. The pastor should 
know the schools in his parish thoroughly, and visit 
them now and then ; perhaps speak to the children on 
some such subjects as "Courage," "Helpfulness," 
"Patriotism," and "Reverence." 

The educative opportunity of the country min- 
ister is unlimited. In this connection, it may be worth 
noting that in our parish the pastor at the regular 
Sunday morning service reads a brief quotation of 
some kind just after the first hymn. The effort is to 
get something which, in its sheer literary quality, will 
lift us up toward God. It may be a paragraph from 
one of Phillips Brooks' sermons, a little bit from 
Tolstoi or Browning or Tennyson, or a contemporary 
poet like Edward Rowland Sill or Alfred Noyes. All 
such things surely help to fortify our community 
intellectually and spiritually, and lead the children 
and grown-ups toward God. 

5. The Test. 

After all, it is not by farmers' institutes or co- 
operative movements even, not by good roads nor 
libraries, but by the Spirit of God in the hearts of 
men that any rural community will be saved — and 
saved to do service. It is only as the lesser interests 
center in the heart-life of the people that they help 
at all. It must be admitted that when a Church is 
socialized there is always great, danger of its being 
secularized. In carrying out a program of social 

190 



SPIRITUAL EVANGELIZATION 

activity and effort for community betterment, it is 
easy to get interested in the machinery and to forget 
the real end for which we are working. I would not 
give anything fcr a Church, no matter how character- 
istically a community center, no matter how much an 
intellectual center, if the religious basis upon which 
it is built does not show itself at every point. On 
the other hand, it surely must be true that where re- 
ligion is blended with every other interest of the 
people, it becomes a much more vital thing than it 
can ever be in the one-day-in-the-week Church. 

Certainly, these week-a-day interests open up 
countless avenues of approach to children and young 
people, and even the most indifferent and hardened 
non-church-goers. The final and most important aim 
must be to touch every individual life in the com- 
munity in some helpful way. This is what pastor 
and people must pray and work for most. There 
must be intercessory prayer for the individual, and 
good straight-from-the-shoulder talks with men and 
women, boys and girls, about the deep things of life. 
If we pray enough the Holy Spirit will drive us to our 
work and will guide us in it, even in the most minute 
details. A real man of prayer can not be a lazy man, 
nor an inefficient worker. The harvest times will 
come. Sometimes there will be the great ingather- 
ings, but most times the harvest will be hand-picked. 



191 



CHAPTER XI 



The Rural Church as a Factor in the 

Social Life of the Country 

Community 

By Rev. Charles E. Turley, B. L., 

Pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Shawnee, Ohio. 

We live in a great age in the world's history. It 
is an age of invention, an age of progress, and of de- 
velopment along all lines. This 
progress is not confined to the great 
centers of our population, but per- 
meates the whole of our American 
life and reaches nearly every rural 
community. 

The Life with Nature Is the Nor- 
mal Life. — Life in contact with 
nature is the normal life. It is a 
fine thing to plow the fields, to sow 
rev. mr. turley the seed, garner the harvests, breathe 
the pure air, bathe in the sunshine, and look up at 
the stars. 

Wordsworth, that great poet of nature, has very 
beautifully described the mountain shepherd who 
lived in close touch with nature. He says of him: 

192 




A FACTOR IN THE SOCIAL LIFE 

"O then how beautiful, how bright, appeared 
The written promise! Early had he learned 
To reverence the volume that displays 
The mystery, the life which can not die; 
But in the mountains did he feel his faith. 
All things, responsive to the writing, there 
Breathed immortality, revolving life, 
And greatness still revolving; infinite: 
There littleness was not; the least of things 
Seemed infinite; and there his spirit shaped 
Her prospects, nor did he believe, — he saw." 

Are We Becoming a Nation of Cities? 

A bulletin entitled, "Population of Cities," com- 
piled by William C. Hunt, of the Department of 
Commerce and Labor, shows that in 1910 the urban 
population of this country was 42,623,383, an increase 
over 1900 of 38.4 per cent. The rural population was 
49,348,883, an increase over 1900 of 11.2 per cent. 
The rate of increase of urban population over rural 
in the last ten years has been 27.2 per cent. In the 
States of Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, and Missouri there 
was a decrease in rural population from 1900 to 1910. 
It is very evident that something must be done to 
maintain our rural population. 

There is, indeed, good cause for the alarm that is 
felt by many leaders that our country is fast becom- 
ing a nation of cities. The lure of the city has proved 
attractive to many, and this attractiveness is on the 
increase, rather than on the decrease, in its power. 
The irregularity of country work, the introduction of 
labor-saving machinery on the farm, the unequal dis- 
tribution of the foreign immigrant, the larger social, 
13 193 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

industrial, educational, and religious advantages of 
the city have all had a tendency to increase the urban 
population at a greater rate than the rural. Not- 
withstanding this marvelous growth of our cities, 
there are still several millions of our citizens engaged 
in the occupation of agriculture. The value of the 
crops for 1910 reached the enormous sum of $8,926,- 
000,000. The value of the crops from 1899 to 1910, 
inclusive, amounted to $79,000,000,000. 

Serving Rural America is a Great Service 

Thus agriculture is a very important factor in our 
American life. Whatever is done for the material, 
social, intellectual, and religious life of those so en- 
gaged is rendering a great service to our country. 

When President Roosevelt appointed "The Coun- 
try Life Commission," he said to the commission- 
ers: "It is especially important that whatever will 
serve to prepare country children for life on the 
farm, and whatever will brighten home life in the 
country and make it richer and more attractive for 
the mothers and wives and daughters, should be done 
promptly and gladly. There is no more important 
person, measured in influence upon the life of the 
nation, than the farmer's wife; no more important 
home than the country home; and it is of national 
importance that we do the best we can for both." 

The Rural Community Needs the Christian Church 

One of the great centers of rural life, one that has 
a commanding influence in molding the highest type 

194 



A FACTOR IN THE SOCIAL LIFE 

of community life, is the Church. Every rural com- 
munity needs the presence of a strong, useful Church. 
Indifference on the part of the citizens of a com- 
munity to the Church and religion can bring only 
disastrous results. This indifference will open the 
door for almost every form of wickedness and vice. 
A letter recently appeared in The Christian Work and 
Evangelist, by one who spent four years in the Cana- 
dian Northwest. He says: "The nearest church 
was twenty-five miles away. There was practically 
no organized Christianity in the neighborhood. The 
industrial situation was almost ideal. Every settler 
owned his own farm. The prairies furnished the wild 
hay, free for all who wanted to cut it. Neighbors 
were so far apart that there was no excuse for line- 
fence quarrels. Every man's success depended upon 
nothing but his own industry and good management. 
There was no need of over-reaching, of dishonest 
practice between neighbor and neighbor. The air 
was pure, the skies bright, the soil rich, the climate 
wholesome and invigorating, and yet, in spite of this 
ideal industrial and social situation, it was not a fit 
place to bring up children. Drunkenness, profanity, 
and neighborhood quarreling abounded. Those neigh- 
borhoods need the Church more than anything else, 
and of all institutions in the world, there is but one 
that will save those people from drifting into bar- 
barism, and that is the Christian Church. Where 
the Church is strong and prosperous, the community 
will always be characterized by righteousness, purity, 
and kindliness of life." 

195 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

Prof. Joseph A. Leighton, of Hobart College, 
Geneva, in a recent address, said : ' ' The Churches are, 
by inheritance and choice, the guardians and cham- 
pions of the moral order in society. To-day they 
light against heavy odds. It behooves them to get 
rid of unnecessary baggage, to make an end of irrel- 
evant controversies, to bury dead issues, and combine 
their energies on the one aim of conserving and en- 
forcing the Christian moral values of civilization. 

"In the midst of social and moral chaos, a few 
choice spirits may find consolation and strength in 
philosophy; but for the many, vivid, passionate, and 
energetic religious conviction is the condition of 
moral health and vigor. No great civilization has 
ever outlasted the demise of its religious faith. If 
the moral bases of our culture are in imminent dan- 
ger, the danger can be averted only by a new crusade 
on behalf of social righteousness and personal in- 
tegrity, animated by a religious view of life, for which 
the human spirit transcends nature through kinship 
with absolute spirit." 

Dr. Aked, cf San Francisco, says: "The Churches 
are the incarnate conscience of the nation. They are 
a protest against materialism, a perpetual witness to 
the ideal." 

Dr. Charles E. Jefferson, in his recent book, "The 
Building of a Church," says: "A congregation, de- 
voutly engaged in worship, is doing something for 
the community which can not be done in any other 
way." 

Many country communities are possessed with the 
196 



A FACTOR IN THE SOCIAL LIFE 

materialistic spirit. Their joys and pleasures seem 
to be confined to the things of time and sense. They 
need the Church in their midst, in order that the 
claims of the higher and better life be presented to 
them with such force and power that visible results 
will be accomplished. 

Dr. Strong has recorded the facts of the history of 
two townships on the Western Reserve in Ohio. 
"The southern township was founded by a devoted 
and far-sighted home missionary. He had become 
convinced that he could do more by establishing a 
Christian community on the Reserve than by many 
years of desultory labor as a home missionary. The 
settlers were carefully selected. None but professing 
Christians became land owners. A Church was or- 
ganized under the roof of the first log cabin. Eight 
roads meet in the center of the township, and there 
the church was located, to represent the central place 
that religion should occupy in the life of the com- 
munity. Soon followed the school and the library; 
and there, in the midst of the unconquered forest, 
only eight years after the first white settlement, the 
people planted an academy. At an early period 
benevolent societies were organized, and here was 
opened the first school for the deaf and dumb in 
Ohio. The northern township was settled by an in- 
fidel, who seems to have given to his community not 
only his name, but his character. He naturally at- 
tracted men of his own way of thinking. He hoped 
that there might never be a Christian church in the 
township, and there has been no evangelical Church 

197 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

there. Though one of the best colleges in the West 
was founded within five miles, it is not known that 
any young man has ever taken a college course any- 
where. A few of them have entered professional life, 
none of them have gained a wide reputation. On 
the other hand, the southern township is widely 
known for its moral and religious character, its wealth 
and liberality, and for the exceptionally large number 
of youths it sends to colleges and seminaries. The 
assessed valuation of property in this township ex- 
ceeds that of the northern by 56 per cent, though the 
latter has better soil. From this little village of a 
few hundred inhabitants have gone forth men to the 
State Legislature, to the pulpit, to college professor- 
ships east and west, to the Supreme bench of the 
State, and to Congress." 1 

Phases of Social Activity for the Rural Church 

The Church in the rural community ought to 
bring the people together on one common platform. 
A very illiterate man once said to me: "I tell you, 
we must meet as the apostles did in the days of old. 
They all met with one discord!" The fact of the 
case is, too many of our rural Churches meet in just 
that way. There are divergent elements in the com- 
munity, the moral forces are divided and scattered, 
and a real coherent community life is impossible. 

The country Church must do more than hold 
Sunday school on Sunday morning and have a preach- 
ing service once every two weeks. The church must 

1 Dr. E. S. Le\vis in Sunday School Journal — M. E. 

198 



A FACTOR IN THE SOCIAL LIFE 

be made a real social center in the rural community. 
It should take the lead in work and recreation, and 
should ever strive for the practical betterment of the 
people in the community. 

The Church, to win men, must be social, and 
must take an interest in them. There are poor people 
in nearly every community, who ought to be reached 
by the Church. The question ought not to be, "How 
much can they pay toward the expense fund?" but, 
"How much of help and inspiration can the Church 
bring to them?" 

It is a fundamental fact of human existence that 
young people are going to associate together. Obey- 
ing the law of their being, the sun shines, the bird 
sings, the flower sheds its fragrance, the rain falls; 
and, obeying an inward law of their being, young 
people are going to meet together somewhere. If not 
in the church, then elsewhere, many times, perhaps, 
under questionable influences. 

To many young people, country life is very dull 
and uninteresting. Their lives are one round of 
ceaseless toil. They have n't much to look forward 
to: and just so soon as they approach young man- 
hood and womanhood they begin to cast longing eyes 
toward the city, where things are happening, and 
where they can find some amusement and pleasure 
to break the monotony of their daily toil. Thus every 
year many ambitious young people are lost to our 
country homes. 

Governor Eberhart, of Minnesota, in an address 
before the General Conference of the Methodist 

199 



A FACTOR IN THE SOCIAL LIFE 

Episcopal Church, in which he pleaded for the co-oper- 
ation of the Church in the movement toward rural 
betterment, said : "The depopulation of our country's 
rural districts and small towns and the congestion of 
our large cities, that feed our criminal institutions, 
presents the serious question of whether or not the 
Church, as an institution, ought to take steps to 
make country life a little more attractive and city 
life a little more wholesome. 

"The time has come when a religious body like 
this ought to take into consideration the fact that 
country life is too lonesome, and that the city gets 
every attraction. The glare and glitter and glimmer 
of the city is attracting thousands and tens of thou- 
sands of young men, women, and children from our 
rural districts, and they are congesting our cities. 
Here is a problem over all the problems that are to 
be solved here. Now, then, what is to be done? I 
would like to request this body of men and women 
to co-operate with the State in the establishment of 
social centers in the country, where we can bring to 
the people attractions and amusements that are clean 
and wholesome, and which will attract the young 
people and keep them from being drawn to the large 
cities." i 

If the rural Church is to held its own and meet 
its larger opportunity, it must recognize its social 
mission. 

Oftentimes there are, in rural communities, good 
Christian people who love the Church supremely, and 
who love God devoutly, who can not see the impor- 

201 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

tance of relating the social life of the young people 
with the life of the Church. Some argue that the 
Church was made for worship and for worship alone. 
They vigorously oppose any move made in the direc- 
tion of social improvement, on the ground that the 
Church will become worldly: and every year many 
young people drift away and are forever lost to the 
Church, because of the failure of the Church to realize 
its social mission. 

A Typical Example of the Status of the Church in 
Rural Communities 

The writer recently spent a week in a township 
in one of the rich counties of Western Ohio, investi- 
gating country life conditions. 

The value of land and buildings totaled $1,302,110. 
The farms were well cared for, and the people were 
prosperous. The population of the township was 
1,512. There were six church buildings and five 
active societies. In these five churches there was a 
membership of 550, leaving 968 who do not belong 
to any Church. 

Farmers, school teachers, merchants, and min- 
isters were interviewed, and all united in saying that 
the Churches were making no attempt to improve 
the social life of the young people. Some seemed to 
think the mission of the Church was distinctly re- 
ligious, and young people ought to be satisfied with 
the Sunday school and the prayer-meeting. The 
result was there were but few young people who be- 
longed to any of these Churches. 

202 



A FACTOR IN THE SOCIAL LIFE 

The older people lamented the fact that "times 
were not as they used to be," and the Church not as 
strong as thirty years ago. 

I asked the question, "Why is the Church not 
stronger than it is?" Various answers were given. 
I will record a few of them: 

"Mediocre talent in the pulpit. When one goes 
to church, one wants to get something worth while." 

"There are divisions in the Church over minor 
questions." 

"Many have gotten out of the habit of church 
attendance. New people come into the community, 
and soon drift into the ways of the people." 

"Too much Sunday visiting. Renters do not at- 
tend much, as they either go visiting or entertain 
company on Sunday." 

"The Churches are making no attempt to improve 
the social life of the young people." 

"Churches are selfish. Have their own crowd, 
and do not care a great deal about others." (This 
man was a professional man of the town, and said 
he had never been approached on the subject of the 
Christian life, except by ministers. ) 

"Older families moved into town, and these who 
came did not take their place." 

"People are too selfish, in the mad rush for money. 
The younger generation is more concerned about the 
making of money than religious things." 

"Not enough sociability in the Churches." 

"A few in the Churches want to run things." 

"Too long intervals between preaching services." 
203 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

These Churches have a great opportunity to ren- 
der a social service to the people in their communities. 
The people were hungry for social life, and the 
Churches were not attempting to feed them. If the 
Church people of this community would arouse 
themselves, use some of their latent energy, and at- 
tempt for three months to make their Churches 
social centers of community life, there would be a 
revolution in the life of the whole people, and the 
Churches would increase numerically, financially, and 
spiritually. 

The Church Should Encourage and Minister to All Good 
Community Activities 

That Church is the most spiritual that is rendering 
the most practical, helpful service to all departments 
of community life. 

With many rural Churches there is a great struggle 
for bare existence. Oftentimes the main question 
seems to be, "How can we save the Church?" and 
not, "How can the Church save the people?" The 
Church is built by the people of a community. It 
stands, or should stand, to serve the people of that 
community. Open its doors to helpful lectures, to 
clean entertainments by the young people, and, if 
there is no other building in the community that can 
be used, have a social meeting in the church. 

Once the writer was very much criticised by some 
of the over-pious members of his flock, because he 
brought the young people of the community together 
in the church for a literary program. Among other 

204 



A FACTOR IN THE SOCIAL LIFE 

things on the program, we had a debate. It was in 
1908, and the question debated was: " Resolved, 
That it is to the best interest of the country that Mr. 
Taft be elected President." 

All of the debaters were beardless youths, and 
they debated with a frenzied enthusiasm. Several 
members of the Church would not attend, saying, 
"You are bringing politics into the Church, and the 
Church was made for worship." But a pleasant 
evening was put into the lives of the young people, 
and they went home feeling that the Church was in- 
terested in their best welfare. 

When the Church will awaken to its social mission, 
folks will rally to its standards who have never been 
reached before; for they will see the Church means 
business, and stands for the development of the full- 
orbed, complete life. 

A Few Suggestions from Practical Experience 

I close the chapter with some practical sugges- 
tions which have been worked out and successfully 
applied in the writer's own experience. 

After sufficient interest has been awakened in the 
social mission of the Church, it will not be difficult 
to raise funds to add a room to the church to be used 
for social purposes. Make it large enough to have a 
cloak-room, a good kitchen, furnished with shelves, 
dishes, stove, and cooking utensils. Then have a 
large room where, if they desire, boys can play basket- 
ball, where banquets can be served, where games can 
be played, and where a general good social time can 

205 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

be had. Let the people feel that it is their room, built 
to promote the social life of all the people of the com- 
munity. Such a room can be built and equipped for 
$800 to $1,000. Give the people a chance to donate 
labor and money, and that will give them an interest 
that can be created in no other way. Such a room, 
28 x 40 feet, was built in one of my pastorates, and 
has met a long-felt need in the lives of the people. 

In our present pastorate the young women of the 
Sunday school have been organized into a Philathea 
class. They meet every two weeks, spend some time 
in Bible study, have a program with readings, essays, 
and music. Light refreshments are served. This 
gives the girls a pleasant evening together, and makes 
them more interested in the work of the Church. 
They recently gave a banquet to their mothers, which 
was a very enjoyable affair. 2 

Get the men of the community interested. Some- 
times it will take a great deal of patience to get the 
men to feel that the Church is interested in them 
and can help them. In my present pastorate, we or- 
ganized a men's Bible class. It started with an en- 
rollment of seventeen, and has an average attendance 
of ten. When the organization was completed, the 
officers assumed the expense of serving refreshments, 
and a general invitation was given to the men of the 
town to be present. A literary program was rendered, 
with a debate on "The Woman Suffrage Question." 

2 Instructions as to how to organize such classes can be obtained from 
Baraca-Philathea Supply Co., of Syracuse, New York, or from the Sunday 
School Boards of the various denominations. 

206 



A FACTOR IN THE SOCIAL LIFE 

Fifty-seven men were present. After the program, 
we retired to the Sunday school room and spent a 
social hour over hot hamburger sandwiches and 
coffee. That one meeting did more for that men's 
class than anything else. The attendance in this 
Sunday school class was quadrupled, while the total 
attendance of the whole school was doubled. We 
have these men's meetings once a month, and they 
are purely social. The distinctly religious work is 
done through the regular Church channels. Condi- 
tions here do not make it practical to organize a de- 
nominational brotherhood. 

A Circulating Library 

For ten years the writer was near a good uni- 
versity and a State library. On removing a distance 
from these, he discovered how much they were 
missed. We found 3'oung men and women, boys and 
girls, anxious to read. Many had read nearly every- 
thing that came to their hands. 

In Ohio, the State Library has a circulating de- 
partment. On receiving an application, signed by 
some of the responsible citizens of a community, this 
department will loan from fifty to two hundred vol- 
umes for eight months. There is very little expense — 
only paying the freight on the books to and from the 
library. By this means the Church may be made a 
center where the young people may meet and ex- 
change ideas on the books they read. This also gives 
the pastor an opportunity to direct the reading of 
the young people, 

207 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

The Mission of the Rural Church 

The rural Church has a greater mission to-day 
than ever before. She must keep abreast of the times; 
she must stand for progress and development; she 
must fulfill her social obligations to society; she must 
issue her perpetual protest against the life that creeps 
and crawls; she must continue to be a place where 
the young find the inspiration of high ideals, where 
the sorrow-stricken receive their message of comfort, 
and where the weary find rest. 



208 



CHAPTER XII 



Boys' and Men's Clubs in the Country- 
Church 

By Rev. C. M. McConnell, A. B. (Ohio Wes- 
leyan), S. T. B. (Boston), 

Pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Middlefield, Ohio. 

1. The Problem 

It is necessary first to state the problem before 
us. We are concerned chiefly with the country Church 
and its relation to the community. 
The farmer demands a broader and 
more effective service from the 
Church. The Church, in turn, asks 
more loyal support and co-opera- 
tion from the farmer. The ideal 
placed before the Church by its 
Founder is ministry to human 
needs. "I came not to be min- 
istered unto, but to minister," are 
rev. mr. McConnell tne words of Christ. Before the 
Church can meet this ideal and render effective serv- 
ice, it must be ministered to. We must have strong 
Churches in the country before we can expect them 
to meet the ever-increasing needs of men. Many 
14 209 




SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

well-meaning farmers have neglected their duty to 
the Church. As a result, the women have too often 
had to support the Church' and do the work of men. 
The problem before us is, then, twofold: First, the 
farmer and his son must help strengthen the Church 
by ministering to it; and second, the Church, in turn, 





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A RURAL FORUM 



must more efficiently meet the needs of men and 
better serve the community. 

Many rural Churches are solving this difficult 
problem by appealing to the social instincts of men 
and boys. A normal person craves companionship. 
There are some nature-lovers who find trees and rocks 

210 



BOYS* AND MEN'S CLUBS 

and babbling brooks more congenial than their fellow- 
beings; but, as a rule, the farmer prefers the fellow- 
ship of folks. In seeking a gratification of his social 
nature, the farmer is not unlike other men. The 
lodge and fraternal order exist in the country as well 
as in the city. In various ways the farmer reveals 
his social instinct. The country store is a social as 







RURAL SOCIABILITY BEFORE AND AFTER CHURCH SERVICES 



well as a commercial institution. The farmers gather 
at the store to discuss community affairs and politics. 
Often it is this opportunity for social intercourse that 
proves more attractive and valuable than the wares 
of the country store-keeper. Public sales are well 
attended in the country, and the farmers find the 
social value of the occasion greater than the com- 
mercial value. The country Church has been more 
or less of a social center for farmers. After the Church 

211 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

service the farmers visit and talk about their crops, 
while the women plan some enterprise or discuss 
their affairs. The club is founded on the social 
instinct common to men, and through it the country 
Church can better minister to this craving for fellow- 
ship. 

The Loneliness of the Open Country. — The country 
cffers too few opportunities for the gratification of 
the farmer's social instinct. The telephone, good 
roads, rural free delivery, and other modern conven- 
iences have done much to socialize the country. 
The farm is still isolated, and modern conveniences 
have not wholly destroyed the isolation of the open 
country. The farmer uses the telephone for social 
as well as for commercial purposes, but the friendly 
visiting with friends and neighbors is done at long 
range. Modern farm machinery has replaced many 
farm hands, and thereby lessened the rural popula- 
tion. The corn-husking machine has been substituted 
for the husking-bee, and the grain binder has made 
harvesting the work of but a few men. As a result, 
the farmer depends less upon his neighbors and more 
upon machinery. The fellowship and social inter- 
course which accompanied the harvest time, the barn- 
raising, and other co-operative work, disappears with 
the coming of modern methods, and isolation remains. 
The farmer feels the loneliness of his condition, and 
the children feel it even more keenly. We find in 
this isolation and lack of social intercourse among 
farmers an open door for the country Church that 
aims to minister to human needs. The club may be 

212 



BOYS' AND MEN'S CLUBS 

used as an instrument of service through which the 
Church can meet the social needs of the farmer. 

2. The Boys' Club 

Boys are like grapes in their tendency to bunch. 
The "stem" is generally some boy of strong will or 
sinewy muscle, who has earned the right to lead. 
Around this boy, whether in the city or the open 
country, we find a "gang," cr group of boys. The 
"gang" spirit is merely another name for the social 
instinct. It is, indeed, a rare specimen of boyhood 
that wanders off to the swimming'-hole alone or fishes 
in solitude. Boys seldom raid orchards or do mis- 
chief alone. There is a time in the life of a boy when 
he shuns saints and girls, and seeks his kind. His 
chief interest is boys, and his loyalty to the "gang" 
is a part of his religion. The "gang" spirit has been 
a fruitful subject of study for the psychologist and an 
endless cause of worry to distracted mothers. Boys 
persist in being boys, and the "gang" spirit must be 
reckoned with. Like a boy's will, we should never 
break it, but direct it into proper channels. Upon 
this social instinct the boys' club is based. Instead 
of a "gang," with questionable leadership and mis- 
chievous purpose, it is possible to have a boys' club 
rightly led and under the direction of the Church. 

If the social spirit of boys forms the foundation 
of a boys' club in the country, the isolation of farm 
life creates a demand for it. Homes in the country 
are often far apart. At best, the boys on the farms 
have few opportunities for association. At the d'is- 

213 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

trict school, the boys find companionship with other 
boys, but the Church offers little along this line. He 
is not enthusiastic over prayer-meetings, and the 
Sunday school is not his chief delight. He does not 
often accompany his father to the store or public 
sale, and it is a rare day when he meets with other 
boys for play. The social instinct of country boys is 
too often neglected by the Church, and the club may 
be used to minister to this instinct and destroy the 
isolation of farm life. 

The Question of Leadership. — With a basis and a 
demand for boys' clubs in the country, the question 
of leadership arises. The proper management and 
direction of the social or "gang" instinct of boys is 
of vital importance. The natural leader of the " gang " 
may have nothing more than fists cr muscle. He 
may be unfit to lead in the right direction. The group 
of boys in the country may meet at the cross-roads 
and exchange vulgar stories, or in the country church 
and hear of the deeds of valor performed by the 
knights or heroes of old. They may either rob or- 
chards or enter into a corn-growing contest. The 
boys may either read dime novels or Scott's tales. 
The country Church can direct the boys into the 
right activities and provide leadership. A club-room 
for boys in the country church is as necessary as an 
auditorium, and should be furnished according to the 
tastes of boys. If the natural leader of the boys is 
fit for moral leadership, he may be utilized as a leader. 
The leader may be the pastor, if he has the spirit of 
youth and the qualities of leadership. He will have 

214 



BOYS' AND MEN'S CLUBS 

need of training unheard-of in theological schools, 
and equipment seldom found in the Church. A base- 
ball suit and camping outfit, as well as fishing tackle, 
will be found as necessary as a frock coat. If other 
leaders can be found, the pastor may be excused from 



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THE MIDDLEFIELD ATHLETIC CLUB BASEBALL TEAM AND ITS MANAGER, 
REV. MR. McCONNELL 



this work; but it is the business of the Church to 
provide proper leadership. 

Opportunities Open to Boy-Club Activities. — A boys' 
club must have something worth while to do. The 
boys will suggest to the apt and wide-awake leader 
a variety of activities. It is not advisable to adopt 
the plans found in successful operation in the city. 

215 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

Many ready-made organizations may yield valuable 
suggestions, but few can be used without changes to 
meet local conditions. The games and activities 
native to the soil and found in the country are most 
acceptable to country boys. Many of the rural games 
are more virile and red-blooded than the city sports. 
Country boys fish and swim and play baseball and 
camp; and the country offers an opportunity near at 
hand for these activities. Corn-growing contests and 
debates are of interest to country boys, and a reading 
circle is of value. Some of the old-time games and 
social activities might with profit be revived. The 
spelling-school and husking-bee had in them elements 
of worth that warrant their revival. Along these 
lines the leader of the boys' club may direct the 
country boys and develop in them a love for the open, 
country and a loyalty to the Church that makes 
possible these activities. 

The Church that ministers to the social life of 
boys will become attractive to them. The boys who 
depend upon the Church for social life are the ones 
most likely to depend on the Church for spiritual life. 
The ministry will be mutual, and boys will return the 
service rendered by the Church. From the boys' 
club will come most of the recruits for the Church and 
Sunday school. It is with no selfish purpose that the 
Church ministers to boys, yet the future of the coun- 
try Church depends upon them, and to maintain itself, 
the youth must be won by the Church. The boys 
must be approached along the lines of their chief 
interests. It may be contrary to the desires of his 

216 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

spiritual advisers that the boy's chief concern is not 
his soul- ^vit other things are more real to him. The 
score of tA^ last ball game, the opening of the chestnut 
burrs, and the boy's chums are the things dear to the 
heart of a boy. The secondary motives may be util- 
ized, and in due season the interest of the boy's soul 
will come to the front. The main thing is to bind the 
boys to the Church in their early years. The cords 
of companionship and the ministry to the life of boys 
are stronger than vows of membership or parental 
authority. 

The Highest Aim of Boys' Club Work. — After the 
Church has done its best to win the boys to the Church 
through the club, there will remain many who do not 
attend Church or in any way strengthen it. "The 
field is the world," are the Master's words. The boy 
lives his life outside the walls of the church. In the 
Sunday school the Decalogue is taught, but it is either 
applied or disregarded on the athletic field, at home, 
and in the affairs of boy-life. As he mingles with 
other boys outside the Church, the boy who has 
learned the principles of right living can point the 
way of life to others. Character is contagious, and is 
caught as well as taught. The club teaches the boy 
the answer to the question, "Am I my brother's 
keeper?" He discovers that there are others in the 
world, and that the will of the majority is stronger 
than the will of one unruly boy. The aim of the 
Church, as it ministers to the boys through the club, 
is to call forth the noblest and best in the life of a boy, 
and direct his unfolding life into the proper channels 

218 



BOYS* AND MEN'S CLUBS 

of activity. Anything short of this is unworthy of 
the Church and its ideal of ministry. 

3. The Men's Club 

Men are no less social than boys. The lodge and 
fraternal order are merely different names for "gangs." 
The need of social intercourse is as real in the life of 
a man as in the life of a boy. As we have before 
stated, the basis of the men's club is found in the 
social instinct common to men. The isolation of the 
farm, with its few opportunities of social intercourse, 
creates a demand for the social group. With this in 
mind, we pass to a further consideration of the club 
for men in the country Church. 

In the country we find few leaders of men. Per- 
haps we had better say that we find few followers in 
the country. The farmer is naturally independent. 
Many look with suspicion upon one who attempts to 
lead. The personal element enters into the problem, 
and at close range the farmers can estimate the 
leader and call to mind his past record. This makes 
the selection of a leader for a club of men difficult 
and important. As in the selection of a leader for 
boys, a moral leader must be found who will lead in 
the right direction. The pastor may lead, but it is 
far better to place the leadership in the hands of a 
man who has freer intercourse with men. Men are 
apt to regard the pastor in a professional attitude and 
reject his leadership. A minister of tact and quali- 
ties of leadership can direct, the work of the club along 
the proper lines and, if necessary, assume the actual 
leadership. 219 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

The Various Fields of Service for Men's Clubs. — - 
The field of service before a men's club is different 
from the opportunities before the boys' club. It is a 
real and lasting service to the men of any community 
to meet together and enjoy the fellowship a club 
affords. There is no better place for men to meet than 
in a club-room in a Christian Church equipped to 
meet the social needs of men. Any Church can well 
afford a club-room that will afford a meeting place 
for men, and too few country churches are equipped 
for such community service. The club cuts through 
all social distinctions and welcomes men of different 
faiths. Saint and sinner, rich and poor, workingman 
and employer may all meet and learn to know each 
other better in a Church that aims to minister to the 
social needs of men. 

There is a field of educational work before a club 
of men. The country does not fully understand the 
city and its problems. Too often the city and country 
are antagonistic to each other. Men from the city 
can address the farmers on the problems and life of 
the city. The vital and close relation of city and 
country may be made clear, and a better understand- 
ing brought about. The great movements of human 
betterment and reform are apt to pass over the heads 
of the farmers. Leaders of great reform movements 
can be secured by the men's club to address the. men 
on the work they represent. Lawyers, physicians, 
college presidents, and business men of prominence 
may make their work clear to the farmer. Topics of 
wide and varied interest may be discussed, and re- 

220 



BOYS' AND MEN'S CLUBS 

ligion related to the actual affairs of life. From this 
there comes a broader sympathy and wider horizon 
to those whose lot 'is cast in village and open country. 
Petty prejudices and narrow provincialism vanish be- 
fore intelligent interest in the larger affairs of life and 
the world at large. 

The local problems of the community should 
command the attention of a men's club. Practical 
and substantial aid may be given by the club in move- 
ments of human and community betterment. Good 
roads come only through intelligent and organized 
effort. The Church should concern itself about the 
roads on earth, as well as about the gold-paved streets 
of the world to come. The political ideals of many 
rural sections are not ideal. The political boss is not 
unheard of in the country. The men's club need not 
resort to the tricks of the professional political club, 
nor form a new party. At the same time the club 
may take its stand on the side of honest government 
and law enforcement. Local school conditions and 
oversight of play-grounds and sanitation are fields 
into which the club may enter and render a practical 
benefit to the community. In a word, the men's 
club is the hand of the Church, and aims to put into 
practical application the principles taught by the 
Church. In their efforts to better the community and 
promote the ideals of highest value, the men are 
welded together in a bond of fellowship that is lasting. 

The Final Result. — Many men find their way into 
the Church through the men's club. To some it is 
an introduction into the Church, and serves as a re- 

221 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

cruiting agency for the Church. Members of the 
Church work hand in hand with men outside the 
Church for the betterment of the community, and 
come to know each other. The real aim and ideal of 
the Church are revealed and interpreted to men 
through the practical work of the men's club. Ques- 
tions of doctrine and creed are settled by activity 
rather than argument, and the Kingdom of God 
comes on earth through better roads, better health, 
better citizenship, and righteous living, rather than 
through denominational rivalry and doctrinal dis- 
putes. If the men's club strengthens the country 
Church, it has justified its existence and proved its 
worth. 

The Ultimate Aim. — The farmer is to-day face to 
face with serious and complex problems. Rural con- 
ditions are far from ideal, and the country Church 
'can help in the solution of the farmer's problems and 
the building of better rural institutions. If the men's 
club aids in the solution of rural problems, it has 
rendered a lasting service to humanity. The final 
aim of the Church is the answer to the divine prayer, 
"Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven." The 
Church that loses itself in service to the community 
in the answering of this prayer is the Church that will 
survive and warrant the support of the sons of toil 
who sow and reap in the open country. It is for this 
larger service and lasting good that the club seeks to 
fit the farmer. 



222 



CHAPTER XIII 
Recreation and the Rural Church 

By Rev. Silas E. Persons, 

Minister of the Presbyterian Church, Cazenovia, N. Y. 

Fun and the Church! Is not this a pair that is 
unevenly yoked together? What could be further 
apart than a Calvinistic Church and 
a good time? Our New England 
fathers who whipped the cider-barrel 
for working on Sunday never saw it 
on this fashion. Ycu say that re- 
ligion was then a serious business. 
I admit that it was serious, but too 
serious to be "business." Noble as 
was the Church of our fathers, its 
mind and its conscience both pitched 

REV. MR. PERSONS , . , 1 . , , r m i 

to a high key, it none the less failed 
to minister to the whole man; and no such Church, 
clinging however reverently to the traditions of the 
past, is grappling with the real and living problems of 
to-day. 

The Recreational Responsibility of the Rural Church 

It is a part of the holy mission of the Church to 
provide wholesome recreation for its youth. This is 

223 




SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

especially true in regard to the Church in the open 
country; for there the provisions for wholesome recre- 
ation are few. Young people in the country usually 
go away from home for their amusements, and that 
is always perilous, particularly if they go unaccom- 
panied by their seniors or parents. As a rule, during 
the summer months such recreation is sought on 
Sunday. For young people to go away from home 
alone or in groups in search of pleasure or recreation 
on the Sabbath is to subject themselves to temp- 
tations against which mere human nature is not for- 
tified. It is not necessary to enumerate the dangers 
incident to such a course. I think we all agree that 
any kind of recreation in one's own neighborhood, 
where the older people can be present, is far safer 
than these periodic migrations in search of a "good 
time." So every community is under most sacred 
obligations to evolve its own sufficient and whole- 
some recreations to interest its own young people and 
satisfy their reasonable cravings for innocent fun. If 
the Church, cheerfully recognizing that play is a part 
of life, takes the lead in providing recreation, the 
chances are that the quality of the recreation will be 
quite as good as it otherwise would be, and also that 
the Church will get a stronger hold upon the young 
people of the community. Neighborhood recreations 
of some sort are the imperative demand, and the 
local Church may well enlarge its ministry by fur- 
nishing them. 

The rural Church should do this without apology, 
and with the assurance that it is working inside its 

224 



RECREATION AND THE RURAL CHURCH 

own appointed mission; with the sure recognition of 
the truth that sports have ethical value, and that 
they are elements in the upbuilding of character. I 
like to teach a boy to have the four indispensable 
virtues of good sportsmanship — nerve, skill, courtesy, 
and fairness. That training ought to fit him to play 
fair in the bigger games of life, in the market, in the 
arena of politics, in the parliaments of men, never 
flinching, never losing temper or unbridling tongue, 
never playing false to a competitor, to State, or to 
God. The discipline of high-toned, manly sport con- 
stitutes one of the essential phases in the education 
of modern life. It is a means of grace, and helps to 
save the soul from flabbiness, from meanness, from 
dishonesty. It is worth while to teach a boy to have 
the nerve to be a good loser, to take defeat manfully, 
to show courtesy toward his opponent, to play with 
generous fairness as well as with winning skill. A 
part of the Church's relation to recreation is a teach- 
ing that involves the cultivation of manly sportsman- 
ship that shall be educational, character-building, and 
redemptive. 

An example. Each of the five Churches of our 
village formed a team for a tournament in bowling. 
The local newspaper offered a prize, a beautiful ban- 
ner, to the winning team. It was a long contest, ex- 
tending through three winter months. Long before 
its close excitement ran high. There was a tendency 
toward "rooting." In the heat of the battle, the five 
men of one team met and agreed that whatever the 
result and whatever others might do, theirs was to be 
15 225 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

a courteous, manly play, giving every player a chance 
to do his best, and then beating him if they could. 
To-day the banner is in the room of their Baraca 
class, and it is worth a good deal more to them and 
their fellows because it was won with honor. The 
Church serves the young people when it develops in 
them the spirit of high-toned, courteous sports- 
manship. 

The Forms of Recreation and Amusement 

The kinds of play are pretty well determined by 
the young people themselves. It is to be hoped that 
they will never indulge in some of the oscillatory 
games that their seniors once thought proper. It is 
well that the "fashion changeth." I have never sus- 
pected that it is my appointed task as a minister of 
the gospel to dictate to the present generation the 
kind of harmless recreation they shall enjoy. Play 
is play; and time, place, and company being proper, 
there is little choice in the kinds of it. Rolling wooden 
balls on the lawn and calling it croquet, and rolling 
ivory balls on a table and calling it pool or billiards, 
are both in themselves equally innocent amusements. 
But whether a rural Church should install a pool- 
table in its parlors depends on local conditions. You 
might be giving a young boy his first lesson in what 
would lead him to a pool-table in a saloon. On the 
other hand, it may be that all of those young fellows 
are playing pool in places where everything that is 
fine and clean about them will be polluted. I once had 
an experience with a class of young boys who were 

226 



RECREATION AND THE RURAL CHURCH 

in just that danger. We had experienced some difficulty 
in holding them in Sunday school, chiefly because we 
failed to secure the proper teacher for them. In des- 
peration, I temporarily took the class. When they 
asked me to teach them permanently I agreed to do 
so on certain conditions, one of which was that they 
would come to the manse on Wednesday night and 
play pool, and bring their Bibles for a half hour of 
Bible study. I not only had no difficulty in holding 
the boys in the class, but I discovered that I did not 
need to teach them any new tricks about the game of 
pool. I discovered also that every one of them, save 
one, had learned pool in places where he ought not 
to have been. These were boys of the age of fourteen, 
an exceptionally fine lot of fellows, some of them 
already members of the Church. Either we, as 
Churches and Young Men's Christian Associations, 
will take the lead and furnish such righteous recrea- 
tion as this generation elects as its amusement, or 
the saloons and gambling-halls will do this work for 
us. Local conditions, however, must determine the 
policy of each Church. Every man must be his own 
conscience. 

In the purely open country among our farmers' 
boys the summer recreation is our national game of 
baseball. Very often there is no ground in the neigh- 
borhood where the boys can play. The result is that 
the boys are tempted to go away from the com- 
munity for their sport, and, almost as a rule, they do 
so on Sunday. What could be worse? What could 
be more demoralizing? Every country neighborhood 

227 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

blessed with nine or more boys ought to provide itself 
with a ball-ground, and the Church and the whole 
community ought to take a lively interest in it, keep 
it in order, witness its games, and hurrah for its own 
boys. If the Church will also add a tennis court, so 
that the girls. as well as the boys may play a game of 
refinement and of recreation, it will add to its religious 
efficiency. 




A COMMUNITY TENNIS COURT AT A RURAL PARSONAGE 

There is another and larger means of recreation 
which the Church in the village or open country may 
well foster. This is a kind of field-day for the whole 
countryside — a revival of the old Olympic games and 
festivities — a day of out-of-door sports : picnic, shoot- 
ing-match, ball game, running match, and a popular 
address on some phase of agriculture or rural social 
life. Such a gathering insures that for one day in 

228 



RECREATION AND THE RURAL CHURCH 

midsummer the whole conntryside shall forget its 
cares, ignore its work, disdain even its sterner duties 
of life, as it unharnesses its youthful spirit, and out 
in God's fields takes a merry-making, a day of diver- 
sion and fellowship, of fun and laughter. It helps to 
create the community spirit, and may lead to more 
ambitious undertakings — a local fair or a course of 
lectures in the interests of agriculture and rural 
betterment. 

The Monotony of Winter on the Farm 

But the winter, the tedious winter on the farm! 
Its nights so long and cold and dark, so different 
from the light and airy gayeties, the theater-goings, the 
concerts, the dances of the city! What shall we do 
with them? How shall we at once banish their tedi- 
ousness, fill them witn joy and make them contribute 
to the mental and spiritual worth of boy and girl, of 
father and mother? The occasional card party and 
dance break the monotony of country life in the 
winter. Our young people, both of city and country, 
often engage in these questionable amusements, 
simply because nothing better is provided. Surely 
the Church can give to that same life something that 
is better worth while — a literary society, with social 
features; a current-topic club, meeting from house to 
house; a class in sociology, including the study of 
social conditions and needs of their own community, 
or a Bible-study class, which shall make its lessons 
effective in the life of to-day. Whatever form our 
recreational effort may take, we must see to it that 

229 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

our young people have a reasonably good time, and 
are genuinely interested in the local enterprise. 

More efficient than any of these social gatherings 
is the men's meeting, held in the church or its parlors. 
There never need be a poor meeting, never an ordinary 
one; always a big one, full of good things, brimming 
over with richness. Put into it education and re- 
ligion, laughter and fellowship, song and story. Let 
it feed the whole nature. If the educational features 
consist of instruction in subjects of vital local con- 
cern, especially in agriculture and the rural institu- 
tions and social activities, the interest of the men 
will be awakened at once. There is no topic of such 
absorbing interest at the present time as this of the 
farm. A lecture on the care and tillage of the soil, 
or how to make the old apple-orchard pay, or on the 
extermination of weeds, or on birds, will always draw 
a crowd of men and boys, especially if it is followed 
by a social repast and a merrymaking. 

Such gatherings not only banish some of the 
monotony of the winter, they make our boys en- 
thusiastic for farming. You know that the brightest 
boys and girls used to flee from the farm, because 
their minds and souls were starving there. There 
was little in farm or neighborhood to quicken their 
enthusiasm, to give them zest and zeal, little for the 
mind to study, little for the soul to love; no variety, 
no fascinations, no scientific experiments, few relaxa- 
tions in the summer, and all relaxation in the winter, 
and almost no absorbing and joyous interests. It is 
the mission of the village and rural Church to make 

230 



RECREATION AND THE RURAL CHURCH 

life in the rural districts worth living — rich in mental 
and spiritual stimulations. These are the Church's 
higher and larger duties toward recreation — to give 
to its community something that shall re-create the 
whole man, the soul no less than the muscles, enrich 
life on the farm, and make it, as it should be, a po- 
tential force in the social and spiritual guidance for 
its country boys and girls, who are to be the scientific 
and successful farmers and farmers' wives of the 
future. 



231 



CHAPTER XIV 



The Work of Women's Organizations 
in the Rural Church 



By Anna B. Taft, 

Department of Church and Country Life, Presbyterian Church in 
the United States of America, New York. 

The strongest element in a weak country Church 
is often its women's organization. It may not, be 
that the organization as such is well 
constructed or established. Many 
times such a backbone as a consti- 
tution is a thing unknown. But it 
is true that this is a dependable 
group, standing the stress and strain 
and struggle, time and again saving 
the situation. Like woman herself, 
it is to be depended upon in an 
emergency and able to tide over a 
difficult or impossible situation. 




MISS TAFT 



The Ladies' Aid Society a Type 

The woman's society of most vital concern in the 
country Church is that one frequently called "The 
Ladies' Aid Society." There are, to be sure, flourish- 
ing missionary organizations in country Churches of 

232 



THE WORK OF WOMEN'S ORGANIZATIONS 

every denomination. In proportion to the wealth of 
members, the largest and most generous gifts come 
into the missionary treasuries from the rural Church : 
gifts that mean sacrifice and self-denial far in excess 
of the generous offerings from the larger Churches. 
It is not, however, the missionary societies that are 
our chief interest, because they have not the same 
significance in relation to community conditions as 
has "The Ladies' Aid Society," unless definite local 
work is done under their auspices. In some cases the 
missionary society is organized to carry on all the 
benevolent and social work of the Church, and has 
the three distinct divisions of home, foreign, and local 
work. When this is so, the "local work" division is 
that which corresponds to "The Ladies' Aid Society." 

The same type of organization flourishes under 
many names. Sometimes it is "The Women's Benev- 
olent Association;" again, "The Women's Society;" 
but most often it is simply "The Ladies' Aid." By 
whatever name it may be called, this is the band of 
women in the Church that does things. It is the or- 
ganization that frequently raises the money to paint 
the church and repair the parsonage. Sometimes it 
comes to the rescue of a bewildered Church treasurer, 
and hands over what is lacking on the minister's 
pittance of a salary at the end of the year. In its 
quiet and unostentatious way it feeds the hungry 
and clothes the naked in the community. It is the 
truest exponent of practical social service that can be 
found in the country. 

For example, in a certain small village having one 
233 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

Church, where the minister is paid a salary of $600 a 
year, one-third of that amount is contributed annually 
by "The Ladies' Aid Society." This money is raised 
by a multitudinous array of suppers and fairs. These 
have a far larger value than merely the raising of the 
money. The suppers bring together all the people 
of the community, many of whom never enter the 
church; and the fairs, however one may question this 
method of Church support, at least bring together 
the women with their sewing for months preceding 
this small event in social assembly. In spite of this 
yearly drain upon their finances, this thrifty band of 
women keep a good balance on hand for emergencies. 
There have been no repairs made on church, chapel, 
or parsonage in the last ten years that have not been 
paid for by this women's organization. It has also a 
committee to look after the poor of the village, and 
there is no destitute family in that community, what- 
ever the Church affiliations or lack of them, that it 
has not tended and cared for and tided over many a 
hard place in its history. This true and simple illus- 
tration is no great exception to the rule. With vary- 
ing details, this society is duplicated again and again 
in the country Churches throughout the land. 

I have in mind a union chapel that is ministered 
to by four pastors of different denominations, each 
taking one Sunday afternoon in the month. The 
only unifying force in that mixed chapel organization 
is its women's society. This conducts not only local 
benevolent work, but also what little social life there 
is in a destitute and unattractive village. 

234 



THE WORK OF WOMEN'S ORGANIZATIONS 

To have so large a share in financing and carrying 
on the Church is not always a good thing. It sug- 
gests too much the woman as the supporter of the 
family. In many cases she is doing the men's job, 
and taking upon her shoulders a part of the Church 
responsibilities that should belong to the men. For 
this reason her self-sacrifice has not always a develop- 
ing influence upon the Church. Yet the fact remains 
that in many places the Church would go out of ex- 
istence were it not for this support. 

It was found, in surveying rural Church conditions 
in three counties in Indiana, that of the Churches 
having a resident pastor, 84 per cent have a "Ladies' 
Aid Society." Such an organization is found in only 
31 per cent of Churches without a resident pastor. 
Whether it is this women's organization that makes 
possible the supporting of a resident pastor, or whether 
it is merely an indication of a prosperous and efficient 
Church, it would be hard to say; but there is no ques- 
tion but that the reflex influence of the " Ladies' Aid 
Society" on the rural Church is very marked. 

Because of the great importance of women's or- 
ganizations in the country Church, it is a matter of 
earnest consideration how they may become more 
efficient and what is their best contribution in solving 
the country Church problem. 

The Women's Organization a Community Enterprise 

I would suggest, first of all and most important, 
that it become a community enterprise. The group 
making up "The Ladies' Aid Society" is too often a 

235 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

small club of the righteous. It is comprised of the 
saints, the thoroughly worthy, the fine Christian 
women within the fold of the Church. Although this 
ministry may reach out to the needy in the locality, 
it seldom does so in order to bring those women into 
the organization. Its service is merely to minister to 
a temporary affliction or necessity. Time after time 
I have found that where a village is surrounded by a 
farming population, only a very small proportion of 
the membership of the women's organization is drawn 
from the farmers' wives. Occasionally, where a 
mother has lived in this locality for years and is a 
member of the Church, she is in this group; but there 
is an exclusiveness that prevents the coming in of 
the poorer people who are living, perhaps, only tem- 
porarily as tenants on the farm. This is not so true 
where the incoming family purchases a home and 
expects to live there permanently. Because of this 
very distinction and the ignoring of the transient 
element, there has grown up in many localities a 
social caste which makes "The Ladies' Aid Society" 
as exclusive in rural sections as an aristocratic women's 
club in a town or city. 

There is great possibility of democracy in women's 
clubs and societies. Common work and common in- 
terest makes it possible for all to mingle on terms of 
equality. This has been proved time and again in 
many organizations, more often in the larger towns 
than in the small hamlets and villages, where the 
social lines, though fewer, are more marked. 

In the same Church before cited as an example, 
236 



THE WORK OF WOMEN'S ORGANIZATIONS 

there was started a home department of the Sunday 
school to reach the outlying districts. This gained a 
membership of about thirty women, only one of whom 
ever attended a meeting of "The Ladies' Aid So- 
ciety," or had any part in its work. There is nothing 
that brings a group of people more closely together 
with greater sympathy than common work; and one 
of the best things that the " Ladies' Aid Society" can 
do for the local Church is to get into its active mem- 
bership women who have never before had a part in 
such an organization, and who have very little in- 
terest in community life. With the increase of tenant 
farming and the tendency that we are facing of a 
shifting population, every tie that can hold a family 
to a locality is important; and few things will help to 
keep a woman where she is better than to have her 
family sympathy enlarge itself to the bounds of a 
community. 

The Enlargement of the Field of Service 

My second suggestion is that the field of service 
of "The Ladies' Aid Society" should be greatly en- 
larged. To have suppers and fairs to raise money for 
the Church may be a good work; to help the needy in 
a locality in time of emergency is better; but there 
still exists a large field of community improvement 
rarely, if ever, touched by this social service organ of 
the local Church. In an efficient country Church — 
that of Rev. Matthew B. McNutt, at DuPage, 111. — 
the women's organization is known as "The Woman's 
Missionary Society," and has in its care all of the 

237 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

activities of the women in the Church. Once a 
month this society discusses some practical problem 
of common interest to the home. Such topics as 
"The Care and Feeding of Children," "A Balanced 
Ration," "How to Get Rid of the House-fly," and 
similar ones are especially popular. Bulletins are 
secured from agricultural departments, and much help 
is given by the members in a free discussion of a com- 
mon problem. This same organization has found it 
of particular value to hold all meetings at the homes 
rather than at the church. Living in a farming ter- 
ritory, with the houses at some distance, an all-day 
session is common, and the men are sometimes invited 
to the evening meal. Another interesting feature of 
this same society is what is called "cleaning-up day," 
when the women gather at the church and the spring 
house-cleaning for the church and chapel is done in 
the form of a "bee," with much jollification and a 
delightful lightening of a heavy task. 

A women's organization in another Church has 
under its charge the question of village improvement, 
beautifying of streets, of cross-roads, and corners. 
By its energy, a small remote village secured street 
lights and housed a public library. Much of the work 
done in New England under the name of a Village 
Improvement Association was undertaken by this 
band of women as a. direct part of their Church work. 

There may well be fostered by "The Ladies' Aid 
Society" the study of such practical subjects as rural 
hygiene and sanitation. This is an important factor 
in the health of the country and needs especial atten- 

238 



THE WORK OF WOMEN'S ORGANIZATIONS 

tion, because of the lack of adequate public boards to 
look after the health of the community, the question 
of the disposal of sewerage, proper ventilation of 
houses, and whatever public buildings the community 
boasts. 

Another subject of vital interest to the women of 
the community is the question of the school and the 
social and recreational life of young people. Where 
there is no other organization promoting this, it 
would be well for this group of mothers and advisory 
maiden aunts to take up this important question as a 
part of its work. In this way the younger women 
of the community can be brought into the society 
and find a work much to their taste. 

The Rural Problem a Unit 

Increasingly, we are realizing that the problem of 
the Church and of the community is one, and if the 
women's organizations can be induced to emphasize 
the needs of the community as a whole and to grapple 
with this larger problem with the intensity and suc- 
cess with which they are swinging their part of the 
Church work, they will be a very large factor in the 
solving of the country Church problem. 



A Typical Rural Ladies' Aid Society 

The picture on the next page is that of one of the 
livest rural Ladies' i\id Societies in Ohio. Nearly all 
the women, both young and old, in the township are 
either active members or are incidentally associated 
with the organization. Its meetings are community 

239 



THE WORK QF WOMEN'S ORGANIZATIONS 

affairs, and its activities interest the whole countryside. 
While the membership of the society is composed mostly 
of the members of a particular Church, yet any woman 
wishing to help work for the Church is admitted. 

This particular society has a very interesting 
round of regular activities. Regular "business" 
meetings are held each month. The "quarterly tea" 
occurs four times yearly, and is one of the really big 
events in the social life of the community. ' The 
society is divided into four groups, and one of these 
entertains the other members of the society at each 
of the quarterly meetings. A high-class literary 
program, which includes readings, speaking, and 
music, is always rendered. The literary program is 
followed with refreshments. To defray the expenses 
of these meetings, each member is assessed twenty- 
five cents a year. 

Socials and bazaars are held "every now and then." 
Carpet-rags are donated to the society for making 
rugs and carpets; and out of old and odd pieces of 
cloth, comforts and quilts are made. Embroidered 
pillow-cases, aprons, and various other fancy and 
practical articles are given, all of which are manu- 
factured in the homes of the community. 

Very practical means are provided for the indus- 
trial education of the younger members of the society. 
The entire organization will go to any home in the 
community and sew for one afternoon for fifty cents, 
and those members who do not attend this sewing- 
bee are fined five cents each. The society conducts 
sewing-bees of its own to make quilts, which are sold 
16 241 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

at $5 each, and other articles. It knots comforts for 
fifty cents each, or, if desired, will make the whole 
comfort. 

The society maintains a birthday fund. Each 
member is expected to pay into this fund the sum of 
five cents on each of her birthdays. Surely this is a 
small sum to give as a thank-offering for life, health, 
and happiness. A flower fund is also maintained, for 
which each member is assessed one cent a month. 
The money is used to purchase flowers for the sick 
and the dead of the community. 

The society pays yearly $50 of the preacher's 
salary, pays the janitor of the church, aids in purchas- 
ing new Church and Sunday school equipment, and 
contributes toward paying for the insurance and in- 
cidental repairs. 

Although the regular activities of the society are 
numerous, all of which are well adapted to the de- 
velopment of the social life of the community, many 
special functions are held as "side issues." Last 
summer the members formed a ladies' baseball team 
and played a team made up of women and girls from 
two neighboring communities. The occasion at which 
the game was played was a countryside picnic given 
by the three rural Churches interested in the chief 
amusement. Taffy-pullings are sometimes given dur- 
ing the winter. All persons who attend the pulling 
are expected to bring a pound of sugar. To these 
events the men folks are sometimes invited to share 
the pleasantries. 

The president of the society says: "We once 
242 



THE WORK OF WOMEN'S ORGANIZATIONS 

made a silk quilt, fan pattern. Each member was 
supposed to make a block out of silk or satin and 
solicit names to be put thereon at ten cents each. 
These blocks were then joined together and worked 
in fancy stitches. The quilt was afterwards sold at 
auction to the highest bidder, and brought over a 
hundred dollars." 



243 



CHAPTER XV 
Rural Sunday School Efficiency 

By L. 0. Hartman, Ph. D., 

Superintendent Department of Institutes and Intensive Work, The 

Board of Sunday Schools of the Methodist Episcopal 

Church, Chicago. 

The welfare of the rural community depends 
not simply on material prosperity, but also upon 
those real yet indefinable idealistic 
elements represented by the home, 
the school, and the Church. With- 
out these elements there can be no 
permanent upbuilding of country 
life and no real prosperity, even in 
terms of material success. We are 
told that the three most successful 
classes of farmers are the Mormons, 
the Pennsylvania Germans, and the 

DR. HARTMAN „ . _ , , . , 

Scotch Presbyterians; and in each 
case the community life is built around the institu- 
tion of the Church. On the other hand, many illus- 
trations could be given showing the disastrous effect 
upon rural life brought on by the decadence of do- 
mestic and religious ideals. In these cases the ele- 
ment of permanency perishes with the loss of moral 

244 




RURAL SUNDAY SCHOOL EFFICIENCY 

and spiritual inspirations, and we have on hand the 
temporary program of land speculations, renters, and 
tenants, all of which spells ultimate rural failure. 
So the Church appears to be vitally essential to the 
highest and best country life. 

Back of the Church, and part of it, is another in- 
stitution without which the Church itself would be- 
come weak and inefficient. That institution is the 
Sunday school. Its importance in this respect is 
made very evident when we contemplate some well- 
proved statistics: 95 per cent of the ministers came 
directly from the Sunday school; likewise, 90 per 
cent of the best Church-workers; while* an analysis of 
Church membership shows unmistakably that at 
least 85 per cent of them come from this same source. 
The only denominations that have shown substantial 
increases in membership during the past decade have 
been those where the importance of the Sunday 
school has been strongly stressed. More and more 
thinking men are declaring that the future progress 
and success of the Church depends upon careful re- 
ligious education; and this is especially true in the 
country, where opportunity presents itself on every 
hand for thorough religious education and practical 
social service. 

1. Obstacles to the Progress of the Rural Sunday School 

Certain obstacles, however, present themselves to 
prevent the highest efficiency in the rural Sunday 
school. Primarily, the country community is, of 
course, naturally conservative. Nowhere is this con- 

245 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

servatism better illustrated than in the conduct and 
management of the Sunday school. Old ideals of re- 
ligious education, old methods of organization and 
instruction, old systems of lessons all prevail in the 
majority of our rural Sunday schools. The institu- 
tion seems to be "stuck in a rut." "We have always 
done it so-and-so," is the stock argument against 
innovation of any kind; and until this unreasoning 
conservatism is broken down for the sake of better 
methods and higher efficiency, the rural Sunday school 
can not embrace its larger opportunity. 

Another obstacle in the way of progress lies in 
the adoption of "penny" policies. Cheapness is 
the governing idea in too many cases where there 
is a strong call for the best in the way of lesson 
helps, of buildings adapted to proper instruction, 
and of the larger opportunity for community better- 
ment. 

. This leads to the thought of another obstacle, the 
narrow view of the purpose of the Sunday school. 
For generations the prevalent idea of Sunday school 
work was embraced in the thought of a half or three- 
quarters of an hour of instruction on Sunday by the 
question-and-answer method. The Sunday school has 
been dominated in the past by the thought that it 
existed to indoctrinate the minds of its members. 
The larger notion of religious education, embracing 
not only the interests of the intellectual, but also 
those of the volitional, the emotional, the social, and 
even the physical lives of the people, has been, for 
the most part, a foreign one. We need to get rid of 

246 



RURAL SUNDAY SCHOOL EFFICIENCY 

the narrow vein in favor of the larger one if the rural 
school is really to help the community. 

Still another obstacle in the way of the country 
Sunday school is that of inefficient leadership. 

2. Educational Efficiency 

Turning now to the consideration of the oppor- 
tunity lying before the country Sunday school for 
real helpfulness to the .community, the first great de- 
mand appears to be that of a true educational effi- 
ciency. The public schools are quite generally pre- 
vented from doing the real work of religious education 
in any large or vital way. If it is to be done at all, 
the task must be undertaken by the Sunday school, 
and inasmuch as the principles of both secular and 
religious education are at bottom one, the Sunday 
school must be organized for its work as carefully as 
are the public schools for its task of daily instruction. 
To do this, the meaning of religious education ought 
to be well understood. It should have to do with the 
enlargement and betterment of all life. If we think 
of it narrowly, as simply related to the limited in- 
tellectual apprehension of abstract truth, then a Sun- 
day school ruled by such a conception will fall far short 
of its opportunity; but if the school be dominated by 
the idea that religious education has to do with the 
careful training of all the many sides of life and with 
the preparation for real service to men here upon 
earth in the upbuilding of the Kingdom of God, then 
we shall have a truly efficient institution. 

The first step to the end must be a trained teach- 
247 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

ing force. The unprepared "volunteer" teacher will 
not do. Nor can any amount of Christian good- 
intention or even extended "experience" make up 
for the lack of systematic training. The teacher ought 
to be a real Bible student, not simply an adept in the 
preparation of "next Sunday's lesson;" one who has 
mastered the spirit of the Bible, who knows the con- 
ditions under which it was written, and the larger 
purpose of the various writings. He should be an 
expert in the study of the developing minds under his 
care; he should know the best methods of teaching; 
he should be prepared to teach elsewhere than in the 
class-room, by the methods of play, recreation, etc., 
between Sundays. A training class for Sunday school 
teachers is a possibility in every rural school. In a 
little Indiana circuit there is, in one of the Sunday 
schools, a training class of four women. They had 
no one to teach the class, so they took turns in teach- 
ing themselves, and all this under the difficult cir- 
cumstances of assembling regularly in spite of domes- 
tic duties and time crowded with the strenuous de- 
mands of farm life. The Methodist Episcopal Church 
provides a series of correspondence courses especially 
adapted to rural Sunday school teachers. 1 This plan 
has many obvious advantages. Each teacher may 
take his course directly, without dependence upon a 
class organization; he is not required to complete the 
work in any given time, but may use his spare mo- 
ments in preparing the lessons. The whole course is 

1 For literature on Correspondence Courses write The Board of Sunday 
Schools, 1018-1024 S. Wabash Ave., Chicago, 111. 

248 



RURAL SUNDAY SCHOOL EFFICIENCY 

conducted by mail, and a diploma is awarded upon 
the completion of the work. Thousands of rural 
teachers are to-day preparing for service through this 
correspondence system. 

Lesson Systems. — It is also important, if the 
country Sunday school is to be a school in fact as 
well as in name, that the lesson system utilized 
should be one in harmony with the best educational 
principles. The prevalent system to-day is the one 
known as the "uniform" system. It was conceived 
and inaugurated for the purpose of systematic Bible 
study, and arranged so as to complete the entire 
Book in seven years. The whole school, irrespective 
of age or attainment, is supposed to study the same 
lesson on a given Sunday. "One lesson for all, every- 
body stud}ang the same lesson," represents in sub- 
stance the uniform lesson system. It had, and has 
yet, a strong appeal, but the idea is largely an abstract 
one. We seem to be more concerned, on this plan, to 
complete the study of the Bible according to system 
than we are about the religious education of the child. 
The beginner in the Sunday school has not the ca- 
pacity to understand, nor any particular interest in, 
the passages intended to explain and expound the in- 
tricacies of the theological doctrine of the atonement, 
much as such a theme might perhaps interest an adult 
Bible class. So, while the uniform lessons have been 
largely used, and many things may be said in their 
favor, yet from the standpoint of the child's growing 
mind we find that they are not adapted to the pur- 
pose of efficient religious education. The new 

249 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

"graded" lessons, however, are based on the idea 
that the child's mind grows, and that it grows by 
certain well-defined stages, which present particular 
characteristics. Therefore, by the graded plan we 
start with the child rather than with the Book, select- 
ing and preparing lessons out of the Bible and from 
other sources, such as Church history, history of 
missions, nature study, etc., which shall be especially 
adapted to the capacity, interest, and stage of devel- 
opment of the child. Then we have not "one lesson 
for all," but many different lessons for the different 
grades. Every rural school ought to be thus care- 
fully graded, and some good system of graded lessons, 
such as the International, installed in the interest of 
real educational efficiency. 

Organization. — It can be successfully demonstrated 
that the average Sunday school in the country is only 
reaching about half its constituency. There are 
literally hundreds of thousands of children in the 
United States untouched by Sunday school influence. 
For example, in New England alone there are 800,000 
children outside the Sunday schools. Similar condi- 
tions prevail all over the country. So the Sunday 
school ought to enlist and influence a much larger 
constituency than it now does. If it is to do this, 
much attention ought to be given to organization, 
especially to those departments designed to reach 
those who are quite generally untouched by Sunday 
school influence. The cradle-roll, the home depart- 
ment, and the adult Bible class can be made more 
than to double the enrollment of the average rural 

250 



RURAL SUNDAY SCHOOL EFFICIENCY 

school; and these departments will do more to project 
religious influence into the home and week-day life 
of the community than any amount of mere per- 
functory visitation. Instance after instance could be 
cited where the little babe whose name appeared on 
a "cradle-roll" became the means of enlisting parents 
in Church attendance, which afterwards led to higher 
ideals in the home and larger, richer life. Likewise, 
the home department has linked many an indifferent 
and careless soul to the Church and has given him a 
larger conception of the meaning and purpose of life. 
Every one knows of the far-reaching results wrought, 
especially with men, through the adult Bible class 
department. The school proper should, of course, 
also be well organized by departments and grades, as 
indicated above. Likewise, classes of young people 
should be organized for social and recreative pur- 
poses, as will be indicated later in this chapter. 
Much also ought to be made of special days — such as 
Rally Day, Christmas, Easter, Children's Day, etc. 
For these occasions most careful preparation should 
be made. The community should be thoroughly en- 
listed, and an excellent program rendered. Parents 
and children can then be brought together in a social 
and religious atmosphere whose influence will be re- 
membered and felt for months and even years through- 
out the entire neighborhood. 

y Architecture and Equipment. — The average rural 
school sorely lacks equipment. One room in the 
country church serves for the preaching service, the 
prayer-meeting service, the missionary meeting, and 

251 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

the social affairs. The Sunday school must also use 
this one room. This is a severe handicap to the best 
work. Separateness is essential to real teaching, 
especially if the school be a graded one, with the graded 
lessons in use. We present herewith an ideal arrange- 
ment for a Sunday school building of the modern 
type, especially adapted to the needs of our day: 




PL /W Or q ROUND FL OOR 



Of course it is not always possible to secure an 
ideal Sunday school building, such as the one indicated 
in the sketches herewith shown, but with some modifi- 

252 



RURAL SUNDAY SCHOOL EFFICIENCY 

cations, this idea can be carried out. Where such a 
building is not at all possible, a system of curtains 
and poles may be installed in the country church, 
and thus the necessary division made. This plan 



MAIN AUOITOQIUM OF THf CHURCH 




PL A NOFMA/N f~L 00O- 



has been successfully carried out in many places, and 
the scheme has not interfered with other services, as 
the system can be so arranged that the parts may be 
easily adjusted and removed within a short space of 

253 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

time. Blackboards, tables, sand-maps, wall-maps, 
charts, and models will all add to the efficiency of 
religious education in these days when so much of 
the work is done through the eye and the hand. But 



MAIN AUDITORIUM OF THE CHURCH 




PLAN OFGALLEQY 



good equipment, even though it may require a larger 
expenditure than the school of the old days required, 
is certainly essential, if the Sunday school is to do its 
part for the larger welfare of the community. 

254 



RURAL SUNDAY SCHOOL EFFICIENCY 

3. Social Efficiency 

The first great responsibility of the rural Sunday 
school to the community is represented by this matter 
of careful organization and religious instruction; but 



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it should not be a religious instruction which is to 
end with the Sabbath day or the individual. It should 
have a larger outlook and purpose. Too long has the 
narrowly individualistic conception of religion domi- 
nated our thought. We have been greatly concerned 

255 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 



k i> ?> 




256 



RURAL SUNDAY SCHOOL EFFICIENCY 

with "the hereafter" and with the necessary prepa- 
ration for this future state. Likewise we have 
thought much about our own personal salvation. 
Now while there is doubtless a world of truth in this 
old individualism, and while we ought never to lose 
sight of our own personal spiritual responsibility, yet 
the very progress of the world is forcing Christian 
people to the larger interpretation of the meaning of 
the religious life. We are seeing how interrelated are 
all the interests of mankind, and how everything we 
think or do has a bearing on the welfare of others. 
The larger practical responsibility of the Christian to 
the community demands the consideration of all who 
are earnestly striving to obey the Master. So the 
Sunday school has a responsibility larger than that 
of one day, larger also than the needs of just one side 
of life. It must become a real ministering agency, if 
it is to fulfill its true purpose. The modern tendency 
to class organization is one of the most hopeful indi- 
cations of the realization of this social responsibility. 
The boys' and' girls' clubs and the adult Bible class 
organizations indicate that the Sunday school is to 
become helpful in a . larger sense than ever before. 
Some of the activities possible through such class 
organizations might be mentioned. These illustra- 
tions will serve to indicate general lines of service to 
the rural community, and will remind Sunday school 
leaders of some of the local possibilities in their own 
neighborhoods. 

Larger Friendliness. — First ought to be mentioned 
the chance which presents itself to the Sunday school 
17 257 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

to contribute to the larger friendliness of the com- 
munity. This opportunity was met to quite a large 
extent in the old days. Just now, because of the 
stern competition of business life, the multiplied at- 
tractions, and the growth of population, it has been 
somewhat lost to our vision. The old-fashioned 
"singing-school," "spelling-school," "the husking- 
bee," the "barn-raising" — all represented social gath- 
erings of immense community value. Some of these 
or similar gatherings could be resurrected with profit. 
Who does not remember the debating club of the 
days gone by, and the long hours of argument, with 
its "Honorable Judges" and its "Resolved, that fire 
is more destructive than water?" On such occasions 
men and women came to know each other intimately, 
and the social instincts found wholesome expression. 
Unfortunately in our own day such gatherings are 
passing, and such expression is not so common as 
heretofore. And yet the instinct still remains, and 
nowhere so insistent as in adolescent boys and girls. 
So strong is this craving for social intercourse that 
it sometimes finds a way to realize itself in the low 
dance, or in the gatherings of the saloon or the 
street. Surely there is a high call for the Sunday 
school through its organization, especially of the in- 
termediate department, to meet this God -given crav- 
ing, and make the Sunday school a center for gather- 
ings that will satisfy and promote the larger friendli- 
ness of the whole community. So can rural life be 
made more attractive, and the youth be induced to 
remain on the farm. 

258 



RURAL SUNDAY SCHOOL EFFICIENCY 

Recreative Activities. — It is a ministry to the body 
as well as to the soul that confronts the rural Sunday 
school. Indeed, it is difficult to separate body and 
soul in these days, when we are learning how inti- 
mately the one is bound up with the other. The 
Sunday school should, therefore, have something to 
do in guiding the various activities that refresh and 
revive the body and give new life to the mind. It is 
remarkable how much even a poorly-equipped gym- 
nasium will do to this end. In a certain Sunday 
school such a "gymnasium" was provided for a boys* 
club. It had just a punching-bag, and the room pro- 
vided was only about 10 x 30 feet, and yet that little 
room with the punching-bag kept twenty boys inter- 
ested and provided satisfying recreation for them for 
many months. There are the out-door activities, 
such as tennis, golf, hockey, baseball, swimming, 
hickory-nutting, and a hundred other kinds of play 
and recreation. It may seem a far cry from all this 
to the Sunday school, but we are learning how im- 
portant it is that the child should learn to play — how 
important even for the spiritual side of his life and 
the larger development of a rounded character. Some 
State Legislatures even have taken up this matter of 
proper provision for the play-life of childhood, and 
have enacted laws pertaining to this matter. 

The opportunity to guide young life into useful 
pursuits also presents itself, and these likewise may 
very well be classed as "recreative activities," for 
such work can be made so attractive as truly to in- 
spire. Too frequently the farmer boy or girl has 

259 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

known only slavish drudgery; too seldom has he 
known the real joy of self-expression and accomplish- 
ment in work. The sewing-school, basket-making, 
corn-raising, garden-growing, etc., represent some of 
the possibilities. A Sunday school teacher can do 
real teaching as he instructs each boy and girl how to 
co-operate with God in growing the vegetables in his 
or her own particular plot of ground. 

Community Improvements. — The Sunday school 
can become a most important factor in helping to 
mold public sentiment for needed improvements. 
The adult Bible class, through its organization and 
committees, is especially fitted to help express the 
will of God for humanity in such efforts as the con- 
struction of good roads, the erection of public library 
or hospital buildings, etc. The pastor and leading 
laymen of a rural Church in Ohio spent several years 
agitating the matter of better roads in their county, 
until at last the people have awakened to the need 
and begin to see what such improvement might mean. 
Recently provision was made for an expression of 
sentiment by ballot, and the improvement is now 
assured. No better service can be done than this of 
helping to make the country a pleasant, convenient, 
and healthful place in which to live. 

Reform Movements. — Likewise the adult Bible 
class, representing the moral conscience of the people, 
ought to be found active in originating and carrying 
on much-needed reform movements. In a little rural 
town in Illinois the teacher of an adult Bible class, 
through his organization, was instrumental in starting 

260 



RURAL SUNDAY SCHOOL EFFICIENCY 

an investigation of political corruption, which has 
been followed during the past few years with intense 
interest throughout the entire United States. In a 
small town in Ohio an adult Bible class of one hundred 
men changed the political aspect of an entire com- 
munity, because the party which had been in power 
for a generation refused to throw off the influence of 
a corrupt bossism. In many another rural community 
the adult classes of men have fought victoriously 
against intemperance, gambling, etc. 

Social Problems. — A prominent organized class in 
Northern Ohio has given itself for a number of months 
to the study and practical solution of the problems 
in its own neighborhood. This, too, is a high type of 
service. Let the Sunday school ascertain through its 
class organization what problems are affecting the 
community. To this end a careful social survey as to 
conditions of Church membership, child population, 
crime, poverty, etc., ought to be made, that a first- 
hand understanding of the local conditions may make 
clear what remedies are required. The social evil, 
for example, seems to permeate every neighborhood. 
It is present, not only in urban life, but in rural life 
as well. Lack of proper education in this matter is, 
to a large extent, responsible for its widespread prev- 
alence. If the Sunday school would earnestly under- 
take to carry on a real campaign of education in this 
matter, through the parents and in the school itself, 
much might be done to overcome false modesty and 
criminal neglect in this respect, and at least a partial 
solution could be attained. The problem of poverty, 

261 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

too, needs to be studied — not merely with the idea of 
some temporary, immediate relief, but as to its deeper 
causes and the possibilities of ■ permanent cure. 
Through the social survey the exact conditions as to 
poverty are to be ascertained. Then, through agita- 
tion, friendliness, advice, etc., let a real attempt be 
made to remove the causes and re-establish self-re- 
spect. In some communities the immigration problem 
is being solved by the Sunday school. One case is 
conspicuous. A Wisconsin pastor in a little village 
found upon his arrival a weak, struggling Church in 
the midst of a community of Swiss immigrants. He 
comprehended what was needed after a careful study 
of the situation, and at once began to enlist the im- 
migrant children. With such success has he done 
this that not only the children, but also the older 
people, have been attracted to this Church. The re- 
sult is that so far as that community is concerned, the 
immigration problem is being solved through the 
Sunday school. The children, and in large measure 
the adults, are being Americanized and Christianized. 
There are such opportunities as these, and many also 
of other kinds in every community, which are calling 
to-day to the Church and Sunday school. 

The crux of the rural problem is with the young 
life. Educate, train, Christianize — that, and the great 
question is more than half solved. The Sunday school 
is the important and strategic institution for this 
work, but unless the task is undertaken earnestly, 
and the very best provision made and the most ap- 
proved methods utilized, all efforts will fail. 

262 



CHAPTER XVI 

The Work of the County Y. M. C. A. 
in Building Rural Manhood 

By B. R. Ryall, A. B., M. Sc, 

State Secretary of County Work, Ohio Y. M. C. A., Columbus. 

The maintenance of a strong, virile manhood in 
rural America is absolutely essential to the future 
welfare of our country. This man- 
hood is threatened. The findings of 
the recent Ohio rural life survey have 
only added to previous evidence, and 
show rural conditions to be more 
serious than even those best in- 
formed have been willing to admit. 
Despite the assertions of some of our 
city friends to the contrary, the 
country boy has been, and will con- 

SECRETARY RYALL .. „. u ^ v i i r " .. 

tmue to be, the backbone ot city 
life. It is not difficult to see, then, the need of a 
strong constructive program and agency to build up 
rural life. Such a program is needed, in the first 
place, for rural life in and of itself: in the second 
place, that the country boys who go to the city — and 
we must justly expect some to go — shall go with the 

263 




SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

right kind of moral and physical fiber to stand up 
under the terrific strain of modern city life. 

1. The Field of the County Y. M. C. A. 

It is in this important and interesting work that 
the rural or county Young Men's Christian Associa- 
tion is engaged. The field consists of more than 
12,000,000 boys and young men who are living in the 
open country or in towns of 4,000 or less. It includes 
more than 60 per cent of the boys and young men of 
the nation. The Young Men's Christian Association 
seeks to unite these young men, for the purpose of 
improving their own conditions physically, socially, 
mentally, economically, and spiritually, and of giving 
expression to these improvements in community life. 

In 1872, in DuPage Township, Will County, 
Illinois, Robert Weidensall, the pioneer and seer of 
Young Men's Christian Association work, organized 
the first rural Young Men's Christian Association. 
Soon after another was organized in Mason County, 
Illinois, under volunteer leadership. These organi- 
zations did not live long, but their experience gave 
Weidensall the foundation upon which to build future 
rural work. While this organization has since made 
a steady growth, it was not until 1906, however, 
that the International Young Men's Christian Asso- 
ciation Committee recognized it as a regular depart- 
ment of Young Men's Christian Association work. 
Out of the trials and testings of a pioneer work there 
has come, after thirty-five years' experience, a now 
rapidly-growing organization, which enlists in sixty- 

264 



THE WORK OF/THE COUNTY Y. M. C. A. 

one counties two thousand and more leaders and 
committeemen, and twenty-five thousand boys who 
are engaged in its activities. In a very humble way, 
the movement is glad to pass on to others, co-workers 
in this field, some of the experiences of these thirty- 
five years. 

The unit of operation is the political county; 
hence the term, "County Work." The unit of organ- 
ization is a group of business men called the county 
committee, who are responsible for the extension of 
the work throughout the county. These men are 
men of large influence in the county, capable either 
of financing the work themselves, or better, of com- 
manding the financial support of others. They are 
men of such caliber that they can sit at one time as a 
county educational commission, at another as a county 
health commission, at another as a committee under 
whose leadership the various religious denominations 
may freely unite in community or county-wide move- 
ments; at other times they may be called on to act 
as a commission to consider the juvenile problems of 
the county. 

2. The Organization and Methods of Work 

A vital factor [ in the success of this work is the 
county secretary, an expert retained by the county 
committee to act as its executive agent on the field. 
This man must be one of large vision and broad 
training. He must be a man whose vision has not 
been seared by the glitter and glare of the city; a 
man who loves the country in and of itself. He must 

265 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

be one who is not afraid to break away, when neces- 
sary, from the conventional way of doing things, even 
though by so doing he arouses the conservatism and 
even bitter opposition of a certain class. He is, of 
necessity, not a leader of the masses, but a leader of 
leaders. In no other department of Young Men's 
Christian Association work — I might say of religious 
work — is there so large a proportion of college-trained 
men. Practically every man in county work to-day 
is a college graduate, many not coming directly into 
county work from college, but from other fields, where 
they have previously met with conspicuous success. 
The reason for the success of the County Young 
Men's Christian Association can, in a large measure, 
be found in the consecration of these men. Their 
hearts are in the work. They are not using it as a 
stepping-stone to a city field. Though they have re- 
ceived many tempting calls to enter other work, few 
care to leave. 

Co-operation is the real program of the county 
Young Men's Christian Association. It does not de- 
sire to work for the strengthening of its own organiza- 
tion at the expense of others. The county committee 
receives its support from the people, and it regards 
itself primarily as a servant of the people. The sec- 
retaries on the field have endeavored in all ways pos- 
sible to co-operate with the existing organizations. 
Sometimes the secretary has co-operated with the 
superintendent of schools in systematizing and devel- 
oping the recreational and athletic life of the school, 
in some cases by working up a program of indoor and 

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SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

outdoor games that the teacher can use to advantage 
during the recess periods. He has worked with the 
Granges and other agricultural societies in organizing 
short practical schools for the farmers. As the Sunday 
school superintendent's right-hand man, he finds 
teachers for boys' classes in the Sunday school. The 
county Sunday school secretary finds him a friendly 
advisor, too, in setting up the county Sunday school 
convention. Through his personal work many 
fathers and mothers have been brought into more 
intelligent relationship with their boys and girls. In 
doing these things, the secretary has been a servant 
of the people, and he has accomplished more than he 
could have accomplished had he confined himself to 
the narrow limits of an organization. Because of its 
intradenominational character, the county Young 
Men's Christian Association is peculiarly fitted to 
become a unifying factor in the county. It recognizes 
its opportunity and responsibility. Because of this 
characteristic, there are certain activities that the 
Young Men's Christian Association can undertake 
and carry to a successful issue, which, undertaken by 
any one denomination of the community, would be 
doomed to failure, because of sectarian opposition 
inevitably aroused. 

3. Principles in Rural Work 

Out of past experience, brief as it has been, the 
county Young Men's Christian Association has come 
to recognize certain established principles which must 
be considered in rural work. 

268 



THE WORK OF THE COUNTY Y. M. C. A. 

1. The redemptive forces of a community are the 
local forces. This brings us back directly to volunteer 
leadership. The problems of any individual commu- 
nity will never be solved until some local man vol- 
unteers to get under the burden. To discover and to 
inspire and help this man, by giving him the right 
kind of training and the right vision of his relation 
to God and to man, is the large task of the county 
secretary. 

2. The country must be guarded from the ener- 
vating paternalism of the city. 

3. We must have rural institutions to meet rural 
needs. A city library will not fit into rural condi- 
tions. We could not transfer a city play-ground into 
a rural community and expect it to be a success. 
But there must be developed, out of the peculiar recre- 
ational needs of the country, an institution to meet 
those peculiar needs.' 

4. Equipment is not essential, and is generally a 
serious stumbling-block to successful boys' work in 
the country. The personality of leadership is the 
all-important factor. 

5. There should be a recognition of the value of 
country life in and for itself. 

6. The county Young Men's Christian Association 
recognizes three primary social groupings in the 
country — the » home,- the school, and the Church. 
Never has the county Young Men's Christian Asso- 
ciation thought of itself as a competitor of the Church, 
but rather as an auxiliary, whose primary function is 
to help build up the Church of Christ. 

269 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

7. This work will not be successful, save as those 
who enter, either as employed officers or as vol- 
unteers, consider the work essentially a Christian 
ministry. 

8. Service, not privilege, is the basis of mem- 
bership. 

9. Determined effort to stem the cityward tide. 

10. A redirected educational system which will 
adequately prepare for life in the country. 

11. Better health and sanitation in farm homes 
and country communities. 

12. Wholesome recreational activities are needed 
in all parts of the country. 

13. A more scientific method of crop production 
and farm administration is essential to a greater sat- 
isfaction in farm life. 

14. Co-operation, rather than competition. 

15. A task for every man, and a man for every 
task. 

4. The Group Method of Organization and Activities 

The boys throughout the country are reached by 
means of local boys' groups, which are generally rec- 
ognized as the Young Men's Christian Association. 
These groups are organized not only in larger towns 
and villages, where in many cases we may find several 
groups, but also at the country cross-roads com- 
munity, or at any place which may be a natural 
community center. In this organization the first 
factor is the securing of a local leader who will be re- 
sponsible for the work of that community. He must 

270 



THE WORK OF THE COUNTY Y. M. C. A. 

necessarily be a man of strong moral character, one 
who commands the respect of the community and of 
the boys, and who is fully in sympathy with boy-life. 
This man gathers around him a group of boys, twelve 
to twenty in number, who are drawn together by 
mutual likes and dislikes — in other words, a gang. 
The "gang spirit" will not be so marked among the 
country boys as among the boys of the city or large 
village, but it is there. As the county secretary works 
with leaders, so this local leader will hold his boys 
only as he holds the leader of the gang. This group 
generally meets once a week in some convenient place : 
it may be the schoolhouse, or the town hall, or the 
basement of the church — if there be but one church 
in the community — or often they meet at the home 
of one of the members of the group. At these meet- 
ings the boys engage in various social, athletic, edu- 
cational, and religious activities. 

Social Activities. — Lack of social life is recognized 
by all students of rural life as one of the most serious 
drawbacks of the country. A more normal develop- 
ment of social life is essential. The rural Young 
Men's Christian Association in its organized counties 
has done much along this line. The boys' groups, 
with their weekly meetings, furnish the means of 
social contact. In many places the boys have ar- 
ranged community banquets; they have planned 
many special social evenings at the homes of the vari- 
ous members. The girls, as well as the boys, are 
reached by these social activities. Through the initia- 
tive of the Young Men's Christian Association there 

271 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

has been a revival of the old-time "spelling-bee" and 
other community social gatherings. The various 
reading circles and study clubs have their social values. 

The direct responsibility for these activities must 
not rest on the county secretary. The full value of 
this work can be realized only as the local people 
take up the enterprise, aided perhaps by the inspira- 
tion and suggestion of the secretary. I fear that too 
often many of our well-meaning pastors and teachers 
have worked injury where they have intended to 
help, because they have done the work themselves, 
thereby robbing the people of their birthrights — initia- 
tive and responsibility. 

Recreational and Athletic Activities. — Our farm 
boys and girls work hard. They may not need physical 
exercises, but they do need play. Play is the inherited 
right of all young life, and child-life will not develop 
into normal manhood and womanhood without it. 
Farmers must learn to work together. Practically 
all recognize the truth of this, but they must also 
recognize that farmers will never work together until 
they and their children have learned to play together. 
The rural Young Men's Christian Association is 
meeting this need in its organized play-day festivals 
held in connection with the schools, Sunday school 
picnics, township picnics, or in connection with the 
county fair. In many places the county Young 
Men's Christian Association has been instrumental in 
cleaning up the objectionable features of the fair. 
Thousands of people, old and young, have joined in 
these county fair play festivals; they forget for a 

272 



THE WORK OF THE COUNTY Y. M. C. A. 

while the cares of the farm and become young again. 
The boys' groups furnish opportunity for many group 
games, calisthenics, and athletics. Practically every 
county has its annual track meet, with from eighty 
to three hundred boys participating in each county. 
Clean baseball is also promoted, putting emphasis on 
the Saturday afternoon games, thus eliminating to 
vsome extent the demand for the Sunday game. " Play 
baseball for sport, to win if you can, but play square 
and clean," is the slogan of . the Young Men's Chris- 
tian Association. All of the county organizations con- 
duct summer camps, where from fifty to one hundred 
or more country boys spend ten days in the happiest 
fellowship of their lives. These days mean much in 
the formation of Christian character. 

Educational Activities. — Our children need supple- 
mental educational work. The schools have become 
more or less mechanical. They are often divorced 
from life ; their method of study is not always nature's 
method. The boys in the groups join in debates, give 
reports of current topics and of books they have read. 
They listen to interesting talks on nature, such as 
"Nature's Methods for the Distribution of Seeds," 
"The Interesting Characteristics of Our Native Birds 
and Their Calls," etc. They engage in hundreds of 
different educational activities which interest and 
hold the boy, because they vitally connect him with 
life roundabout. There are other features of educa- 
tional work more especially applicable to the com- 
munity as a whole, such as practical, short-period 
schools for the farmer, educational campaigns along 
18 273 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

the lines of personal hygiene, reading courses and 
clubs, agricultural contests, in which the boys and 
girls compete with each other in the growing of corn, 
onions, potatoes, poultry, etc. In one county, with 
a population of only two thousand, there were three 
hundred and thirty-eight children engaged in agri- 
cultural contests during one season. Then again, 
there is the opportunity for boys to take part in the 
competitive judging of stock, corn and small grains, 
etc. All this work is intensely vital, and will have a 
large part in keeping the boy and the girl on the 
farm. 

The county Young Men's Christian Association, 
in co-operation with the schools, has conducted very 
successful educational campaigns along the line of 
personal hygiene. The care of the body, the effects 
of alcoholic stimulants, and personal sex hygiene has 
been the line of subjects considered. These cam- 
paigns have met with the unanimous approval of the 
people. There have been other educational campaigns 
conducted along the lines of community sanitation, 
the beautifying of school grounds and of home 
grounds. 

Let us reiterate the principle upon which this work 
is conducted. The county secretary does not attempt 
to do this work himself, but enlists the co-operation 
of other men of the community, or even sometimes 
outside of the community, who are qualified to do the 
special piece of work he has in mind. This is working 
out the very essential principle, "A task for every 
man, and a man for every task," 

274 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

Religious Work. — The religious work of the Young 
Men's Christian Association is the primary work. 
It regards the social, physical, and educational work 
as essential only as they create right conditions for 
the fullest development of the spiritual. Every one 
of the six hundred organized boys' groups is following 
definite courses of Bible study. Recruited from these 
groups are the young men who go back into the 
Sunday school as Bible class teachers. It is a virile 
type of Bible study, in which the leader projects 
himself in personal work. There are but few boys 
who, if approached with a boy's religion, will not ac- 
cept it. Other features of the religious work are 
special Sunday afternoon meetings for men; and at 
other times special meetings for boys. Many men 
will attend these meetings who never come to any 
other. The county and State boys' conferences are 
great factors in giving the boys a new and higher 
conception of Christian manhood, and many have ac- 
cepted the challenge of such a manhood. One of the 
largest factors in this, as in other fields of religious 
work, is the quiet, personal evangelism of the sec- 
retary and the volunteer workers. The co-operation 
of the county Young Men's Christian Association 
with the Sunday schools is also to be considered under 
religious work. In many counties the secretaries have 
been of vital help in adding to the efficiency of the 
Sunday school convention. One county secretary 
suggested, and successfully carried through, a men's 
banquet and evening program in connection with 
such a convention. More than one hundred and 

276 



THE WORK OF THE COUNTY Y. M. C. A. 

fifty men were present. This was accomplished in 
the face of many discouragements. The secretary 
in many places has been of help in conducting train- 
ing conferences for leaders of boys' classes. 

The work of the various county organizations has 
the advantage of the co-operation and help of both 
the State and the international committees. These 
committees are of help to the county secretary in 
formulating his plans. They are free to come in and 
help the secretary whenever he requests. They are 
also of help to the county committee at the time of 
secretarial changes. The large task of the State and 
international committee, however, is the extension of 
work into unorganized counties 'and States. 

The first step to be taken by those interested in 
organizing a movement of this character in their own 
community is to secure the interest and co-operation 
of the best men of the county. These men may con- 
stitute a temporary organization committee, and 
should have as their chairman the best man avail- 
able. He should be a man of large influence, good 
business judgment, and of the right Christian 
character. Those undertaking this organization 
should get in touch with the county work depart- 
ment of the State Young Men's Christian Asso- 
ciation Committee, that they may profit by its 
experience. 

We have outlined a large program. While we 
have not gone into much detail as to the actual work 
of the rural Young Men's Christian Association, yet 
enough has been mentioned to give a general outline 

277 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

of its scope and effectiveness. This work will succeed 
in any county where the people will give their co- 
operation. There must be the local man, who will 
give of his time because he loves boys, his com- 
munity, and his God. 



278 



CHAPTER XVII 

The Young Woman's Christian Asso- 
ciation as a Builder of Rural 
Womanhood 



By Miss Jessie Field, 

National Secretary for Small Town and Country Work, National 
Board of the Y. W. C. A. of the U. S. A., New York City. 

The Young Women's Christian Association has 
as its ideal the development of all young women in 
spirit, mind, and body. So it is 
but natural that it should, in 1908, 
decide to reach out beyond the 
limits of the cities, the factories, 
and the college halls to the thou- 
sands of young women living in the 
small towns and the open country. 

1. The Organization of the County 
Y. W. C. A. 

The county is taken as the unit 
of organization, since it offers a 
natural civil and community division, and has a large 
enough area to make a basis for financial support. 
The executive head of the work is the county sec- 
retary, back of whom is the county Board of Direc- 

279 




MISS FIELD 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

tors, made up of representative Christian women 
from different parts of the county. Wherever there 
is a community center of sufficient strength and local 
leadership to form an association of twenty-five young 
women, a branch organization is formed. This branch 
may be in a town or out in the open country. 

The young woman in the country has many ele- 
ments of great strength. She is blessed in having 
freedom, a wholesome and sane life, and a knowledge 
of happy work. Improved country life conditions 
have brought to her many splendid things from the 
outside world. The rural free delivery brings the 
daily paper and good magazines. Better roads, the 
automobile, and the interurban and trolley lines help 
her easily to reach the town and city, while modern 
conveniences and better prices for crops have made 
the old home a happy and profitable place to live. 

2. Methods of Carrying on the Work 

The country girl has wonderful possibilities for 
growing into the most complete and helpful woman- 
hood. It is to help her in reaching these possibilities 
that the Young Women's Christian Association has 
organized its country and small town work. It is 
the purpose of this organization to work with and 
help strengthen and increase the results of every or- 
g'anization that has for its purpose the development 
of life in the open country. The Grange, the farmers' 
institute, the extension departments of the State 
colleges of agriculture, the United States Department 
of Agriculture, short-course organizations, domestic 

280 



THE Y. W. C. A. 

science clubs, and, above all, the country Church, 
furnish the organizations through which and with 
which the Young Women's Christian Association 
works in uplifting and helping the young women of 
the country. 

There are no association buildings, as in the city, 
for it has been found that the homes of the com- 
munity and the schoolhouses and churches can well 
accommodate the meetings, and so there is an added 
usefulness given to these established parts of the 
community. There are many definite lines of work 
undertaken to add to the efficiency of the work of 
country girls, to the happiness of their play and social 
intercourse, to the strength and health of their bodies, 
and to the vital consecration of their lives to the 
service of Christ. 

Working through the country schools, the county 
secretary helps the country teachers to plan for 
simple lessons in sewing and cooking and personal 
hygiene, which can be taught to the girls in her 
school or to a club of girls taking in all the girls of the 
school district. Many schools have planned, too, for 
serving simple warm lunches at noon, with soup or 
cocoa, and so the girls learn simple lessons in home- 
making, which will help them throughout life. In 
sewing they learn to patch and darn and do just the 
simple, homely tasks in the right way. 

The idea of making the country school the social 
center of the community has been strengthened. 
Corn shows and exhibits of sewing and cooking of the 
girls of the neighborhood are made at the schools, 

281 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

the parents being invited in and the girls serving re- 
freshments, which they have prepared themselves. 
The program is planned to be of special interest to 
country people. In all this the county secretary is of 
help in giving suggestions and helping put the teacher 
in touch with efforts along these lines that are meet- 
ing with success in other places. 




CORN SUNDAY 



Exhibits of model kitchens, handy devices for 
lightening ' labor at home, cooking, and sewing are 
made at the farmers' institute or' the county fair. 
Potato-growing contests are held. Butter and bread- 
making contests and the judging of these foods has 
been made a part of the county work. Often the 
girls doing the best work along these lines are sent to 

282 



THE Y. W. C. A. 

the short course of home economics at the State 
College of Agriculture. 

In co-operation with country Churches, "corn 
Sundays and Mondays" have been held, where the 
farmers and their wives and sons and daughters have 
brought in the best things they have grown or made. 
The exhibits are made in the church on Sunday. It is 
altogether befitting that the products of the farm 
should be displayed in the house of God, in gratitude 
for a bountiful harvest. No live minister will lose 
the opportunity to emphasize spiritual lessons at 
this occasion. The practice is at once a recognition 
of Divine Providence and a dedication of husbandry, 
which may lead to the consecration of the husband- 
man. On Monday teachers come from the extension 
department of the State College of Agriculture to 
judge the exhibits, and a basket-dinner and a general 
good social time are held, and some hours of definite 
instruction on things coming very close to country 
life efficiency are spent. 

Summer camps have been organized and most 
successfully carried out for the young women of the 
country in connection with the county Chautauqua 
Associations. Bible study, practical talks on subjects 
of interest to girls, lessons in cooking and sewing, and 
first aid to the injured are a part of the camp work. 
The afternoons are devoted to having a good time 
with games of tennis, volley ball, basket ball, and 
informal visiting. The campers are allowed also to 
attend the lectures at the Chautauqua. This means 
not only learning more about how to do useful things, 

283 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

but the creating of a spirit of fellowship and good- 
will with girls from all over the county, that brings a 
broader vision of life to the country girl, whose life 
in many cases is isolated. 

Bible study and mission study classes are organ- 
ized, taking in all the young people of the com- 
munity. Courses of study of special interest to the 
community are followed, and at the close of each 
lesson some short feature of interest to the young 
people of the country is given, and then a social time 
together is enjoyed. 

Since the county is so large that the county sec- 
retary can not lead all the groups, there is constantly 
a direct demand for local leaders. This helps to de- 
velop one of the greatest needs of our rural commu- 
nities — trained leadership. Many a country young 
woman has found that she could do things for others, 
because of the responsibility placed on her in the 
work of the Association. As these young women of 
all Church denominations come together in Bible 
study or in the right kind of a good time, the narrow 
boundaries that sometimes hedge around the lives of 
the young people in the country disappear, and a joy 
in the service of others takes its place. 

Through all the work of the Association the 
beauty and possibilities of the Christian home in the 
country, built on a modern plan, with all the latest 
conveniences for lightening labor, surrounded by a 
well-kept lawn with flowers and vines growing on it, 
is brought in a very real way to the girl. She learns 
to truly love the open country, and can help the young 

284 




COUNTRY GIRLS' SUMMER CAMP VILLAGE 




COUNTRY CAMP GIRLS OUT ON A FROLIC 




COUNTRY CAMP GIRLS RECEIVING INSTRUCTION IN DOMESTIC 
SCIENCE 



SOLVING THE COUNTRY CHURCH PROBLEM 

man who has learned to grow more corn and better 
stock to spend wisely the increased earnings from 
his farm, to the end that there may be better schools, 
homes, Churches, and communities in which boys and 
girls may grow up who will represent the highest type 
of American citizenship. 






286 



Appendix A 



A SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY ON THE 
COUNTRY CHURCH 

Ashenhurst, J. O.: "The Day of the Country Church," pp. 208, 
1910. Funk and Wagnalls Company, New York. 

Beard, Augustus Field: "The Story of John Frederick Oberlin," 
pp. 196, 1909. The Pilgrim Press, Boston. 

Butterfield, Kenyon L.: "The Country Church and the Rural 
Problem," pp. 153, 1911. The University of Chicago Press, 
Chicago. 

Gill, Otis C, and Pinchot, Gifford: "The Country Church," 
pp. 12 + 222, 1913. The Macmillan Company, New York. 

Hayward, Charles E.: "Institutional Work of the Country 
Church," pp. 149, 1900. Free Press Association, Bur- 
lington, Vt. 

Israel, Henry: "The Country Church and Community Co- 
operation," pp. 165, 1913. Association Press, New York. 

Miller, George A.: "Problems of the Town Church," pp. 201, 
1902. Fleming H. Revell Company, Chicago. 

Roads, Charles: "Rural Christendom," pp. 322, 1910. Ameri- 
can Sunday School Union, Philadelphia. 

Tipple, E. S.. "Some Famous Country Parishes," 1911. Eaton 
and Mains, New York. 

Wilson, Warren H.: "The Church of the Open Country," pp. 
226, 1911. Missionary Education Movement of the United 
States and Canada, New York. 

"The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social 
Science," for March, 1912, contains articles of the Country 
Church and many other rural problems. 
287 



APPENDIX 



RURAL MAGAZINES 

The following rural magazines are recommended to those 
who desire to keep in touch with the progress of the Rural Move- 
ment, including the Country Church: 

The Rural Educator, a National Monthly Magazine, 
Devoted to the Promotion of Rural and Agricultural Education 
for Teachers, Preachers, Rural Leaders, and Progressive Farmers. 
Published from The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. 

Rural Manhood, Devoted to the Country Work of the 
Young Men's Christian Association in Village, Town, and 
Country. Published by the Young Men's Christian Associa- 
tions, 124 East Twenty-eighth Street, New York, N. Y. 



288 



Appendix B 



HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL REPORT OF 
THE LAWRENCE CIRCUIT FOR 1913 

Compiled by Rev. Albert Z. Mann, A. M., 

Pastor of the Lawrence (Ind.) Circuit. 

Editor's Note. — The problem of every rural minister is to 
know his field — not in general terms, but specifically. To this 
end, a community survey is necessary. 
The data thus secured must then be system- 
atized, tabulated, and correlated. Only 
then does it furnish a safe guide for future 
activities. Inability to use the data when 
once secured may prove to be a very seri- 
ous misfortune to a community. In order 
to show the proper method of procedure 
in building up survey information as a 
guide to action, we herewith present, as 
Appendix B, a concrete example. 

The conditions here presented may be 
accepted as a typical example of a rural 
community in the States of the Middle West. 




ALBERT Z. MANN 



Statistics of the Lawrence Charge 

I. Territory Covered. 

25 Square miles, 
16,000 Acres, 
75 Miles Road System. 
II. Population. 

1,500 approximate population. 
450 families. 

3.33 average number per family. 
10.2 average acreage per individual. 
48 per cent own their homes. 
52 per cent are renters. 
19 289 



APPENDIX 



III. Churches Represented. 

1. In the territory of the Circuit. 

Lawrence: Bethel and Arlington Place Methodist 
Episcopal Churches; Lawrence Baptist, 
Highland Lutheran, and Bell's Chapel 
(Friends). 

2. Churches near and having members living within 
the Circuit. 

Oaklandon Christian and Universalist Churches; 
Cumberland Methodist Episcopal, Baptist, 
and German Churches; Irvington Methodist 
Episcopal Church, Indianapolis; East Tenth 
Methodist Episcopal and German Churches; 
Ebenezer Lutheran Church. 

IV. Church Membership. 

1. Representative Denominations. 

No. Church. Members. Preference. 

1. Methodist Episcopal.. 295 165 

2. Lutheran 63 10 

3. Baptist 47 18 

4. German 32 12 

5. Christian 27 11 

6. Catholic 21 7 

7. Pentecostal 17 

8. United Brethren 11 4 

9. Universalist 11 6 

10. Friends 10 6 

11. Presbyterian 6 2 

12. Congregational 5 4 

13. Church of Christ 5 2 

14. Christian Scientist ... 5 

15. Episcopalian 4 

16. Adventist 2 

2. Totals for Church Membership. 

a. Total Church Membership 621 - 

b. Total Church Preference 247 

c. Total No Church Preference. ..... 635 

Total Population 1,503. 

290 



ROAD AND RESIDENCE MAP 

or 

THE LAWRENCE CIRCUIT 






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APPENDIX 

V. Statistics for the Local Methodist Episcopal 
Churches. 

1. Members on field at beginning of Conference 

year, 1912 212 

2. Members uniting with the Church to July 

1, 1913 70 

3. Persons desiring to unite with the Church at 

present 13 

4. Total members now living within the bounds 

of the Circuit 295 

5. Members now living outside of the bounds of 

the Circuit 28 

6. Total membership of the three Churches of 

the Circuit 323 

VI. Opportunities for Growth in Membership. 

1. Number moved into this charge without letter. 50 

2. Number of residents preferring the Methodist 

Episcopal Church 165 

3. Total preferring Methodist Episcopal Church. 215 

4. Total number having no Church preference. . 635 

5. Total number open to the influence of the 

Methodist Episcopal Church 850 

VII. Auxiliary Organizations of the Three Methodist 
Episcopal Churches. 

1. Present Organizations. 

a. Three Sunday Schools, enrollment 350 

Increase for the year 70 

b. Three Epworth Leagues, enrollment .... 85 

Increase for the year '. 65 

c. Three Ladies' Aid Societies, enrollment. . 80 

Increase for the year 20 

2. Organizations needed. 

a. Three Men's Organized Classes or Methodist 
Brotherhoods. This would complete symmetric- 
ally the Church organizations. 
291 



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